Performance Of Administrators In Implementing Human Immune Deficiency Virus Donor Funded Projects In Public Institutions: A Case Of University Of Nairobi; Kenya

Abstract

Partnerships and collaborations between international and local academic medical centres as well as donor funding agencies are being witnessed all over the world. Out of these partnerships and collaborations, projects of limited size with a focus on general internal medicine are born, which later evolve into some of the largest and most comprehensive HIV/AIDS control systems in sub-Saharan Africa. These centres are charged with the implementation of various aspects of HIV/AIDS under the steering of project administrators. It is therefore important for the administrators to aim at delivering a project to completion at the right stipulated time, with the right quality and optimizing on costs. The aim of this study was to investigate performance of administrators implementing HIV donor funded projects with reference to University of Nairobi. The study endeavoured to examine how managerial skills, systems and processes, role conflict and organisational culture influence effective performance implementation of HIV donor funded projects at the University of Nairobi. To collect necessary data for the study, the researcher used primary data. A target population of 50 respondents was used in a census due to the small population size. Data was collected using survey method, which involved use of structured and unstructured questionnaires. The completed questionnaires were analysed using SPSS and findings were presented using tables’ summaries according to the common themes. Multiple regression analysis was done to show the relationship between dependent and independent variables. The study revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between managerial skills, systems and processes, role conflict and organisational culture and performance in project implementation. The study revealed that most administrators were trained on project management and had supervised several people on project implementation. Systems and processes had a large influence on performance in project implementation and were generally poor in the last five years. The study established that most administrators were implementing more than one project and were also engaged in other activities, which may have hindered effective project implementation as a result of multiple roles played. Organisational culture which forms the organisational values and belief system also affects performance in project implementation, where bureaucracy affects to a great extent. The study concludes that managerial skills, systems and processes, role conflict and organizational culture are significant in explaining the variations in performance in project implementation. The study recommends that organizations need to cultivate a strong relationship between the employer and employees, as well as human resource practices that will help deal with an organization’s culture. Executives and managers need to be trained on how to manage organizational culture and how to influence or change it to obtain the best achievement in organizational ownership and performance. The study further recommends that there is need for public universities to incorporate project management education into their undergraduate syllabus. This will facilitate having professional managers who will oversee project implementation and success upon completion. It is also recommended that project managers be taught and trained on role conflict management, to help cope with all the multiple roles engaged in a day.