Project Management Strategies and the Project Performance in Startups Providing Transaction Services in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

With the evolution of technology, changing customer demands, and regulatory frameworks, startups providing transaction services are operating in an environment that is forever changing. However, the startup scene glorifies funding success and vilifies failure, which has made many startups shy away from sharing their failures. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to assess the true impact of project management strategies on startups project performance. It is, therefore, necessary to investigate how project management strategies affects project performance in startups providing transaction services in Nairobi County, Kenya, with a focus on understanding the challenges that startups face in implementing effective project management practices. The purpose of this study was to understand how project management strategies affect the project performance of startups providing transaction services in Nairobi County, Kenya. The research followed these objectives: to examine the influence of quality management, resource management, communication management and stakeholder management on the project performance in startups providing transaction services in Nairobi County, Kenya. The research was founded on Kurt Lewin's three-step change model. The research used a descriptive survey design. This study focused on 84 startups providing transaction services in Nairobi County as its target population. The study’s unit of analysis was the project managers, product managers, technical quality managers/business analyst, project consultants/advisors, start-up founders and the project sponsors/ venture capitalists’ representatives. A sample size of 224 respondents was selected using a stratified random sampling approach. To collect primary data, structured questionnaires were used. Interview guides1 were administered to the1 project managers since1 they are1 the1 key informants. In accordance with the research objectives, field data will be filtered, sorted, and cleaned. After the data has been coded, it was entered into and analyzed using statistics software (SPSS, Version 27.0). Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. A table presented means, frequencies, standard deviations, and percentages. Qualitative1 data was analysed using qualitative1 statements1 based on1 themes1 from objectives1 in1 the1 narrative1 statements. Correlation analysis was used to establish the relationship between the study variables. The research found that the aspect, specifications, designs, feature lists, roadmaps, manuals, and quality documentation all adhere to reference standards, and the project compiles reports on non-conformances. However, the research also found that the project was not equipped with adequate digital infrastructure, top management did not support the implantation of management training, post project management training evaluation was not conducted and, before a project starts, project managers were not trained. The research established that continuous improvement meetings are held regularly, continuous improvement is documented, project team members have access to reference materials, there was continuous improvement process on the communication, project-related knowledge was made available through an information system, communication was considered as strength. The study however found that stakeholders were not involved in M&E according to clearly defined guidelines. The research concluded that resource management had the greatest influence on project performance in startups providing transaction services in Nairobi County, followed by communication management, then quality management while stakeholder management had the least influence on project performance in startups providing transaction services in Nairobi County. It is recommended that the project should establish a well-defined and documented process for the selection of suppliers and vendors. This will help ensure that the project collaborates with reliable and high-quality partners, ultimately enhancing the quality of services.