The influence of project stakeholders’ involvement on implementation of borehole water projects in Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

This study examined the influence of stakeholders’ involvement in implementation of borehole water projects in Makueni, County, Kenya. Projects have large impact on economic and social development of a country. Project management plays a critical role during the project life cycle by integrating resources, project team and stakeholders in different phases to achieve project success. The practice of project management has been adopted by many organizations worldwide to effect changes that enhance efficiency and address challenges brought by globalization. Studies have shown that, project management has not been able to achieved success due to challenges faced at implementation phase. Despite many studies on project success factors, few have been specific on project implementation due to the nature of definition of project success, diverse environment in which projects are executed, multidisciplinary nature of project teams, change in information communication technology and the fact that it has been assumed project success factors can be replicated. This study attempts to fill the knowledge gap in the area of factors influencing implementation of borehole water projects in Makueni County, Kenya. The study used cross sectional survey design. It examined the influence of project stakeholders’ involvement on implementation of borehole water projects. The target population of the study was all borehole water projects implemented in the period 2011 – 2016, totaling 115. The study used purposive sampling technique. The sample size of the study was 89 bore hole water projects. It used closed – ended questionnaires for data collection. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 24 while qualitative data was analyzed using Content Analysis. Inferential data analysis was carried out by use of correlation analysis. Regression models were fitted using multiple regression analysis and hypothesis testing was done using standard F and T-tests. The study found that stakeholder involvement highly influences successful implementation of water projects. Project environment was found not to be a moderator of the study variable. The study was limited by time, cost, and focused on one geographical area. The study concluded that stakeholders have to be involved in project goal setting and other phases and on completion, they have to be satisfied that their needs have been met.