Influence of project management processes on outcomes: Case of public sector infrastructure projects at telkom Kenya limited

Abstract

Project management is a strategic competency that enables entities to link project outcomes to business goals. Telkom Kenya embarked on a series of projects in 2009 as part of the company’s wider strategy to support its growth and compete effectively in a dynamic market. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of project management processes on the outcome of selected public sector infrastructure projects. The study was guided by four research objectives namely: to determine the influence of project initiation and planning process on project outcome; to examine the influence of project execution process on project outcome; to investigate the influence of monitoring and controlling of projects on project outcome; and to establish the influence of project closure processes on project outcome in Telkom Kenya. The study focused on staff at Telkom Kenya headquarters, from where all projects are centrally managed. Project management was overseen by a team of project managers who worked closely with other functional units such as sales and marketing, finance, quality and audit, technical units, customer support and procurement. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of this study comprised 613 staff. In particular, key persons involved in running the projects were interviewed. The study used stratified random sampling to sample 83 respondents. Questionnaires with both open and close-ended questions were used to collect data. In order to ensure consistency, the completed questionnaires were checked for completeness. The collected data was coded and categorized. The data was analysed and presented in form of tables and frequencies. From the findings, 67 % of the respondents indicated that project planning and initiation influenced project outcome to a very great extent; 44% of the respondents agreed that project execution influenced project outcome to a very great extent; 75 % of the respondents recommended changes to the project monitoring and control procedures to positively influence project outcome. Also, it was established that 55% of the project outcome was influenced by project management processes. The study concluded that there was a significant relationship between project management processes and project outcome. The findings led to the conclusion that execution had the least influence on the project outcome. It was also concluded that the project closure process had the greatest influence on project outcome. The regression model indicated that the closure process had the largest magnitude.The study recommended that: effective project planning and initiation activities to be applied to all public sector projects; emphasis be given to implementation activities that will ensure plans are effectively executed in order to fully meet set objectives; introduction of effective monitoring tools; training of staff on use of monitoring tools; use of effective communication; and improved reporting and documentation. Finally, the study recommended that project outcome should be evaluated from the customer acceptance and satisfaction perspective, as well as that of the business objectives of the organization.