Project Managerial characteristics and Performance of Cash Transfer Projects Sponsored by Non-Governmental Organizations in Baringo County, Kenya

Abstract

The bulk of NGO cash transfer initiatives in Baringo County has failed to achieve stakeholders' expectations throughout the years. According to a study by the Baringo County Government, more than 40% of Ngo's cash transfer projects failed to meet their goal objectives between 2019 and 2021. The projects failed to achieve the objectives. Therefore the purpose of the study was to determine project managerial characteristics and performance of cash transfer projects sponsored by Non- Governmental Organizations in Baringo County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to determine the effect of manager’s tenure, management technical skills, leadership skills, and functional track of manager on performance of cash transfer projects in Baringo County. The study was anchored on project management competency theory, transformational-transactional theory, project life cycle model and theory of change. Descriptive research design was adopted in this study. The unit of analysis was 28 cash transfer projects funded by 10 NGOS in Baringo County. The unit of observation was 28 project managers of cash transfer projects funded by NGOS in Baringo County. Since the target population was small, census technique was adopted to incorporate all the 28 targeted project officials. Questionnaire was employed in collecting primary data. Questionnaire were dropped and then picked later after they were filled. Both inferential and descriptive statistics were used. The findings were presented in form of tables and charts. From the findings, most respondents agreed that project management teams that have been in existence for a longer period are more efficient in implementing cash transfer projects. Furthermore, the majority of respondents agreed that project managers with better budgeting skills can effectively manage project resources prudently. Majority of respondents agreed that good communication skills reduce errors that enhance cash transfer projects' performance. Moreover, majority of the respondents further agreed that the ability of a project manager to plan and forecast help project managers to avoid possible risks. The findings revealed a moderate positive and significant relationship between management tenure in office and performance of cash transfer projects in Baringo County. In addition, the findings revealed a moderate positive and significant relationship between manager’s educational skills on performance of cash transfer projects. The findings further revealed a weak positive statistically significant relationship between leadership skills on performance of cash transfer projects in Baringo County. The findings also indicated a weak statistically significant relationship between functional track of manager and cash transfer projects’ performance in Baringo County. From the findings, the study concluded that project management teams that have existed for a longer period are more efficient in implementing cash transfer projects. In addition, the study concluded that project managers with better budgeting skills can effectively manage project resources prudently. The study further concluded that effective delegation of duties saves project time and resources. The study also concluded that the ability of a project manager to plan and forecast help project managers to avoid possible risks. From the conclusion, the study recommended that cash transfer projects offer some training courses that will help boost the performances of the projects. The research recommended that NGOs in Baringo County should employ functional managers, whose responsibility in projects included supervising project team members and managers and contributing resources. The study also recommended that the agencies should also concentrate on the most important activities and bundle similar jobs together to improve the performance of cash management programs.