Procurement Management Practices and Performance of Road Construction Projects in Wajir County, Kenya

Abstract

The County government has set out its Integrated Development Plan for the District 2013 to 2017 to implement various road projects to reverse the current weak road infrastructure. The district intends to undertake the stabbing action of 2117 km under this First CIDP. In addition to significant investment in the road sector, research into the implementation of this CIDP has revealed that the region has managed to cut 320 kilometers in improving communication with key institutions from the city of Wajir. As a result, the purpose of this study was to look at the impact of procurement management practices on the implementation of road construction projects in Wajir County, Kenya. The study looked specifically at how training needs training, contract management, supplier relationship management, and information exchange affect the performance of road construction projects in Wajir County, Kenya. Management theory, participant theory, and agency theory led the research. The study used a descriptive research design. The Wajir County Department of Roads and Transport was designated as the target population. The total number of respondents was 50, with 5 project managers and 45 project team members participating. A questionnaire was used to obtain information. Six respondents were given a list of questions as a test. In addition, these respondents were excluded from the final data collection process. Descriptive statistics such as medium and standard deviations were used to evaluate quantitative data. Inferential calculations such as correlation analysis and regression analysis were also used to assess the relationship between the variance and the relative value. From the findings, regression model coefficients indicated that information sharing, contract management, supplier relationship management, and training needs assessment positively influenced performance of road construction projects in Wajir County. However, for the case of contract management, the effect was not statistically significant. This study concludes that training needs assessment, contract management, supplier relationship management and information sharing as part of procurement management practices have a positive correlation with performance of road construction projects in Wajir County, Kenya. The study recommends the county government of Wajir to pay particular attention to procurement management practices as they positively impact performance of road construction projects. There is need to focus on training needs assessment as it enables the right people to be targeted for each training session, helps to identify knowledge and technical skill gaps before they become a problem, ensures that the training is meeting the actual business demand, and helps employees acquire the knowledge and skills they need to perform their jobs. The study also recommends emphasis by Wajir County on contract management practices to improve performance of road construction projects. This can be done by using the right validation and certification tools, making it simple to identify contracts with various suppliers, paying less for legal services, stopping unforeseen service renewals, keeping track of important project milestones, and using automated features and notifications.