Logistics outsourcing and performance of road construction projects in Nairobi county

Abstract

The study was conducted on logistics outsourcing and performance of road construction projects in Nairobi County.This study was set, to determine the extent of logistics outsourcing in road construction projects in Nairobi Count, to establish the relationship between logistics outsourcing and the performance of road construction projects in Nairobi County and to identify the challenges of implementing logistics outsourcing in road construction projects in Nairobi County. The study used descriptive survey and the population of the study included all the road construction projects in Nairobi County that is national and county roads. The population of construction projects is 120, which will represent a study population. Out of the 120 projects, a sample of 25 projects was taken for study in all the zones in Nairobi Primary data was collected using a questionnaire. The respondents of this study were project coordinators and implementers (managers), the data collected was sorted and coded then entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Mean and standard deviation were used to establish the extent of logistics outsourcing and the challenges of implementing logistics outsourcing. A multivariate regression model was used to analyse the relationship between logistics outsourcing and performance. The study concluded that road construction projects in Nairobi County face logistics outsourcing challenges. These challenges involves delay of delivery of construction materials, delay in disbursement of funds the government agencies, contractors own cash flow problems, delay in financial approval of variations and unexpected ground conditions .The regression analysis showed that there was a strong positive relationship between the variables since the independent variables contributes 81% in explaining the relationship between the variables in the regression model. The study recommends that the road construction firms should invest in IT infrastructure in order to improve on efficiency in their functions and activities. One of the limitations of this study is that the findings of this study and application thereof are limited to road construction projects in Nairobi County. They may not be applicable directly to other organizations operating outside the construction industry. It is therefore important to note that they can only be used for comparative purposes and not any direct application in other organisations.