Project Management Practices and Performance of Safaricom Foundation Community Projects in Kenya

Abstract

Project management practices are becoming increasingly visible and important to organizations. However, project management remains a problematic activity. Donor-initiated community projects suffer from one of the highest failure rates in developing countries, at 32% of them annually. World Bank funding for projects and programs has declined significantly, from 52% in 2015 to less than 35% in 2020. Between 2018 and 2022, the Safaricom Foundation supported 417 projects, however only 48% of them were finished on schedule, within budget, within scope, and with the desired quality. A research was carried out to analyze the influence of project management practices on the performance of Safaricom Foundation community initiatives in Kenya. The research combined Resource-based theory, stakeholder theory, and theory of constraint to focus on monitoring and evaluation, communication management, stakeholder engagement, and project design. A descriptive survey research approach was utilized, and 102 respondents were sampled using the Krejcie and Morgan equations. To collect primary data, a questionnaire was employed, and SPSS was used to perform descriptive and inferential statistics. According to the findings of the study, there is a significant positive association between project management methodologies and the effectiveness of Safaricom Foundation community projects in Kenya. To improve project performance, management could outsource monitoring and assessment planning to professionals, increase staff planning capacity, and grant scholarships and study breaks to eligible personnel. To successfully manage communication throughout their projects, project managers should design a project communication management strategy, and stakeholders should be involved in project execution.