Management perception of performance contracting at Kenya rural roads authority

Abstract

The study focuses on the management perception of performance contracting at Kenya Rural Roads Authority. It sought to establish the management perception and what influences these perceptions. The design of the study was cross sectional descriptive survey meaning it focused at one particular point in time. The findings were obtained using a semi-structured questionnaire that was administered using a ‘drop and pick’ method. The number of managers who were under performance contracting at the time of this study was 11, 4 departmental heads and 7 sectional heads. Al l the managers were surveyed with a 100% response rate. Demographic profiles established that the majority of managers were under 45 years old, indicating a new breed of younger managers in the public sector. The study established that the managers perceive performance contracting as a useful tool in the management of the public sector and had positively impacted on the cost, operations and timely completion of road projects. The study also established that management perception is influenced by regular communication and the leadership of the organization. The study also indicated that implementation of performance contracting was being affected by budgetary constraints and political interference. While performance contracting has generally been embraced, there is need to increase the positive perception of some aspects of performance contracting such ranking of parastatals. There is also need to cascade performance contracts to all staff in the public sector. This study was limited by the fact that it only focused on Kenya Rural Roads Authority and therefore its findings may not be applicable to the entire public service.