A Study of Performance Contracting Practices Among Non-governmental Organizations in the Health Sector in Kenya

Abstract

The focus of research was on study of performance contracting practices among NGOs in the health sector in Kenya. Performance contracting has been viewed as a strategic aspect on government institutions. The implementation of performance contracting has been implemented in various countries including Kenya where the concept has being implemented in various ministries and parastatals. The main interest of the study was to study various practices by NGOs and identify whether in deed performance contracting among NGOs exist and its impact as a strategic tool. Data for the study was collected through a survey of 30 NGOs, with respondents being in management level. The researcher used questionnaires as preferred data collection instrument. The questionnaires were both open- ended and closed-ended questions covering performance contracting. The questionnaires were administered by researcher through drop and pick method. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics on SPSS statistical tool. The findings of the study indicated that performance contracting practices among the NGOs in health sector in deed exist. The contracts are freely negotiated, and explained to the agency. Targets are major contributor of performance in contract. However the uniqueness of the study is the nature of contracts and extent in which they vary within same organization. Further the strategy has impacted on NGOs through improvement of performance and credibility, accountability, and builds trust. Monitoring and evaluation was identified as major performance measurement too. The findings of the study should be understood in light of the limitations of the study given that respondent rate was 76.1% of the respondents. However the practice is recommendable to other NGOs as well to rip the benefit. In addition further research on performance contracting on NGO set up has been suggested.