Influence of External Business Environment on the Success of Health Projects in Nyandarua County, Kenya

Abstract

Globally, project success is an important topic since the number of projects that are failing is extremely high with more than a third of projects failing to meet their objectives. There are two major strands of addressing project success, namely, how success is judged (success criteria) and the factors that contribute to project success. The successful implementation of projects is affected by several factors both in the internal and external environments. External environmental factors are those conditions that are not in the control of the project team and those that influence, constrain or direct the project. These factors include, political, economic, social and technological factors. Nyandarua County aims at improving access to quality healthcare to the community by upgrading local health facilities and building new ones. However, in spite of the efforts being made, it is evident that of the many health projects implemented by the Nyandarua County before and after 2013, many of them have been reported to have stalled. The broad objective of this study was to establish the influence of the external environment on the success of health projects in Nyandarua County. The following specific objectives were addressed; to establish the influence of government resource allocation on the success of health projects, to assess the influence of change in political leadership on the success of health projects, to find out the influence of finance on the success of health projects, to determine the influence of stakeholder involvement on the success of health projects and to establish the influence of technology adoption on the success of health projects. Theories reviewed in this study were the systems theory and project implementation theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey design with the target population being the project managers of health projects that are ongoing in the county. There were a total of 40 projects and therefore a census inquiry was used since the number is manageable. Data was conducted using a questionnaire and data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to yield frequency tables, mean, mode, median and standard deviation. Multiple linear regression model was used to measure the relationship between the independent and the dependent variables. Data was presented using charts, tables and graphs. The study established a positively and significant relationship between government resource allocation, political leadership, finance, stakeholder involvement and technology adoption on the success of health projects. The study concludes that the budget provides a means to monitor the project’s financial activities over the life of the project and provides a framework for expenditure to achieve the objectives of the project in an efficient manner. Realistic planning of finances is key to proper implementation of a project. Usually projects fail due to struggle because of the inattention of a project manager to the political environment. Finance provides numerous benefits such as risk management incentives, leverage flexibility extension and free cash flow creation. Stakeholder involvement develops a confidence atmosphere by requiring shareholders ' voices to be heard and their issues to be identified and technology-based project management can help companies to streamline business operations, reduce overhead costs, and improve equipment tracking. The study recommends that project managers in the County should identify the right resources towards the success of health projects being implemented in the County. Project leaders stay out in front of the County health projects through the political landscape of the County. A project managers seeking finance for a new health project should preferably seek the services of a financial advisor to assist with the feasibility study of the project and appoint sponsors to raise the funding. Project managers should engage stakeholders early and often in order to ensure project progress. The County should have good project management software that allows project teams to centralize documents, work on schedules and budgets together, and tag each other in updates and requests.