| dc.description.abstract | Performance management entails the achievement of enhanced results from the organization, teams and individuals within agreed upon goals, objectives and standards, successful project implementation would entail timely implementation, within budget, with accountability and delivery of the desired results. The objective of the study was to establish determinants of performance of development projects with a focus on KAPAP in Nakuru. This study used a descriptive survey; since it enabled the researcher to collect data from a wide area in a short time. The study came up with a sample of 60 respondents who were obtained using stratified sampling. This is the reason why the researcher adopted convenience sampling; the respondents were readily available from Nakuru KAPAP projects. The specific objectives were as follows; to investigate how project mission influence performance of KAPAP development projects, to establish how top management support influence performance of KAPAP development projects, to examine how project schedule influence performance of KAPAP development projects, to determine how personnel training influence performance of KAPAP development projects. The study used primary data collected using questionnaires; the questionnaires included structured and unstructured questions. Secondary data was also used where necessary. The data obtained was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Quantitative analysis involved the use of means, relative frequencies, mode, median and standard deviation. The literature review covered theoretical as well as the empirical reviews; theoretically according to Koskela, (2000) it provides an explanation of behavior and on that basis tools for analyzing, design and control can be built. Empirically the study covered the various factors that determine the performance of development of KAPAP projects. According to Pinto and Slevin (1987) the mission denotes the values or the rationale for existence. March (2011) mission makes sure that everyone is on the same level of understanding with regard to the project. Mooney, Mahoney and Wixom (2008) acknowledge that top management support is a key factor in project performance. They reckon that ―the value of the project is not always obvious, and failure to articulate the expected payoff will severely reduce the top management‘s interest in a project‖ (Mooney, Mahoney & Wixom, 2008). They urge that the management must be kept updated on the status of the project, long term projects must be divided into smaller units for tangible success to be seen, identifying competition and communicating threats, recruiting senior members to the team and participating in project steering committees. The degree in management support may influence the degree of client acceptance or rejection of the project (Manly Pinto & Slevin 1987).
The study found that the mission will guide on the ways to enhance the effectiveness of project performance of donor funded projects at the institution. Top managers demonstrate unwillingness to give energy and loyalty to the implementation process, the top management exhibit commitment to the development projects as, the top management exhibit loyalty to the development projects. Project scheduling also improves short term productivity but it can increase long term-costs. From the research conducted it was recommended that to enhance successful performance it is important to ensure that the success factors affecting project implementation are effectively operationalised, While affecting the success factors in implementation, it is important to take into consideration the diversities in the environment within which the KAPAP project is implemented, some performance measures are relative. There is need to devise more absolute measures in some aspects of project performance like a measurement for delivery of desired results. | en |
