ENTREPRENEURIAL DETERMINANTS AFFECTING THE GROWTH OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN THE MOTOR VEHICLE INDUSTRY IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Purpose: The current study sought to establish the entrepreneurial determinants affecting the growth of small and medium enterprises in the motor vehicle industry in Nairobi county, Kenya. The study specifically aimed at assessing how entrepreneurial innovativeness, Service Quality, Entrepreneurial Competency and business operational policies determines the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. Methodology: The study was anchored on Schumpeter’s Innovation Theory, Commitment Trust Theory, Competency Theory and Policy Theory. A descriptive research design was adopted and the target population comprised of SMEs operating within Central Business District in Nairobi County. A total of 245SMEs were targeted and the unit of observation comprised of owners, managers and supervisors of the enterprises. A census approach was adopted where all the targeted enterprises were involved in the study. Questionnaires were used for collecting data both qualitative and quantitative data. The study conducted a pilot on 12 small enterprises in Kiambu County before collecting data for the main study to assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaires. Data was analyzed using both Microsoft excel and SPSS tools. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The study findings were presented in form of tables and figures for easier interpretation. Findings: The study concludes that the entrepreneurial innovativeness level has a positive and significant influence on the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. In addition, the study concludes that the service quality has a positive and significant influence on the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. Further, the study concludes that the entrepreneurial competency has a positive and significant influence on the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study also concludes that the business operational policies have a positive and significant influence on the growth of SMEs in motor vehicle industry in Nairobi County, Kenya. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: From the results, the study recommends that the management of SMEs in the motor vehicle industry should enhance their ability to introduce new product, new services and ability to capture market niche of products and services. In addition, that the management of SMEs in the motor vehicle industry should be more focused on ensuring quality services are provided to their customers.

SUSTAINABILITY ENTREPRENEURIAL STRATEGIES AND ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN LED HIGH END HUMAN HAIR ENTERPRISES: CASE OF WESTLANDS SUB-COUNTY, NAIROBI

Purpose: This study sought to establish the influence of sustainability entrepreneurial strategies on enterprise performance of women led high end human hair enterprises: a case of Westlands sub-county, Nairobi. Methodology: The study was anchored on opportunity based entrepreneurship theory and used a descriptive research design. The target population comprised of 201 women entrepreneurs. The researcher used Krecjie and Morgan formula to select a sample of 132 respondents using stratified sampling and simple random sampling methods. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire. Results: Results from the study showed that there was a positive relationship between sustainability entrepreneurial strategies and enterprise performance. The study also found that entrepreneurial characteristics were the most significant independent variable followed by market accessibility, value proposition and financial resources. The results also showed that the respondents indicated that they were able to match their strategic intentions with their entrepreneurial characteristics, generate new ideas and make timely decisions to enhance the performance of their business to a very high extent. The respondents also indicated that they had access to the financial resources, had a strong financial base and were aware of the credit facilities available to a high extent. Another finding was that the respondents considered enhancing the quantity, length, price as well as uniquely branding their of high end human hair to a high extent. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommended that women entrepreneurs should undergo training on formulating strategies aimed at entrepreneurial development as this will enable them seek information and systematically plan on improving their enterprise thus enhance business performance. It is also recommended that the government and other stakeholders should come up with policies to promote the accessibility of financial resources for entrepreneurs as they were crucial for the sustainability of their enterprises. Another recommendation is that women entrepreneurs should identify, design and implement competitive customer value propositions to enhance their enterprise performance. It is further recommended that the government should support policy that will establish and strengthen the sourcing and market accessibility for women owned enterprises to enhance their financial performance.

CONSTRUCTION CASH FLOW AND RISK S-CURVES DEVELOPMENT APPROACH, AND AREA METHOD ANALYSIS AT THE PRECONSTRUCTION STAGE FROM CLIENT PERSPECTIVE IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Purpose – Understanding construction cash flow estimation is crucial for project success. Experts are concerned about project’s cash-flow and risk estimation and control. Latest construction studies concentrated on modelling and estimating construction costs and risks. Methodology – This article aims to approach pure quantitative mathematical modelling to develop the S-Curves (i.e., cash-flow and risks) and to develop the cash-flow simple area method. This research referred to the mathematical definitions of construction cash-flow and risks, integrating a clear systematic approach to develop the s-curves and to build the simple-area-method. Findings – This research paper reviled that construction cash-flow and risk s-curves can be developed at the preconstruction stage, mathematically, without the need for having cost historical data of similar completed projects. In addition, this article has provided a simple area method approach mathematically, for construction cash flow analysis, using the basic developed cash-flow s-curve and the actual cost data of, at least, 2 completed similar projects. The simple area method is proved effective to provide a better understanding of cash-flow behaviour of the analysed projects’ type. However, the s-curves development can be generalised to cover construction cost and risk simple s-curves, while the area method is restricted with the projects’ characteristics (i.e., type, size, location, etc.) used in developing the simple area. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy – The significance of this study is to provide an S-Curve development approach for both cashflow and risk percentages from client perspective at the preconstruction stage, using solely the tender contract value. And to provide a simpler stochastic area method approach for project management professionals/researchers, who do not have large amount of historical similar projects’ cost data. Originality, theoretical-implications, practical-implications, and limitations are presented in the conclusion for future research.

COST RISK’S RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PROJECT’S WHOLE LIFE CYCLE IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Purpose – Project management cost and risk modelling is experiencing the challenge of identifying cost risks values to maintain accurate modelling, estimating, and assessment. Latest research focused on cost and risk modelling and estimation. The significance of cost risks numerical values come from its ability to be used in many different analysis and approaches. This article aims to identify residential building projects’ whole life cycle cost risks numerical values in UAE at the preconstruction stage and ensure its reliability and validity. Methodology – The approach of this research is pure quantitative. The methodology of this research is to collect data though conducting face-to-face interviews quantitatively (i.e., cost risks values). The survey is using PMBOK risk matrix (i.e., probability vs. impact). Finally, data correlation and regression modelling ware done to ensure the reliability and validity of each cost risk value. Findings – This paper was able to deliver reliable and valid residential project’s whole life cycle cost risks values (i.e., 117 cost risks) for direct use in future research or practical professional cost analysis. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy – This article contribution to the project management body of knowledge is to collect all relevant cost risks (i.e., 117 cost risks) and obtain their values from UAE field experts for the first time. The provided values are for residential project in UAE only. The perspective of how to look to cost risks values in this article (i.e., contractors’ and clients’ views) should be considered at the time of using the data. The consultancy services organizations will have different cost risks because they do not deal with delivering the final product, but they provide supporting services (i.e., design and supervision) to facilitate delivering the project.

SYSTEM DYNAMICS APPROACH FOR WHOLE LIFE CYCLE COST MODELLING OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PROJECTS IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Purpose – Project management field is experiencing many challenges to maintain its performance within planned budget. Latest research focused on cost modelling and estimation. The significance of cost modelling comes from the forecasted information value. It is needed in the United Arab Emirates to satisfy the future vision and strategies. Methodology – This article aims to model project's whole life cycle costs of residential buildings in UAE at the preconstruction stage, choosing VENSIM system dynamics approach. The objective is to simulate dynamically cost over time for all outputs. The approach of this research is pure quantitative. It requires mapping diagrams and mathematical computation systems. DEMO simulation and real data verification modelling are used to ensure the outputs’ validity. The mean absolute deviation and mean square error are used for measuring the estimation accuracy. Findings – This research proved that VENSIM system dynamics approach can model and estimate residential building project’s cost and cash flow dynamically through time, with high accuracy, in the United Arab Emirates. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy – This research provides the first cost estimation modelling for residential projects’ whole life cycle using VENSIM system dynamics approach. It is opening new research opportunities in cost modelling and estimating fields. The theoretical-implications, practical-implications, and limitations are presented in the conclusion for future research.

MONTE-CARLO APPROACH FOR MEASURING ADJUSTING COST RISKS VALUES OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PROJECT’S WHOLE LIFE CYCLE FROM CLIENTS’ PERSPECTIVE IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Purpose – Although projects’ experts always take into consideration the related cost-risks. They are experiencing the challenge of not being able to finish the project within the estimated budget. Latest cost-risks studies concentrated on modelling and estimating risks at the preconstruction stage. This article aims to approach Monte-Carlo simulation using stochastic mathematical modelling to measure cost-risks error (i.e., adjusting cost-risks). Methodology – The approach of this research is solely quantitative. It is using statistical modelling and simulations to ensure the accuracy and precision of the developed Monte-Carlo model. However, this study is utilizing Microsoft Office Excel Software Mersenne twister algorithm to generate random numbers to ensure most accurate Monte-Carlo approach. The mathematical equations system is built into Excel. Findings – The research outputs are considered significant in project management body of knowledge. This is because of the resulted evidence that is proving the applicability to measure cost risks error using Monte-Carlo simulation. This study presented cost risks and differentiated between contractors’ and clients’ views. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy – The originality of this article comes from providing the first Monte-Carlo approach for measuring projects’ cost-risks error from client’s perspective. The theoretical-implications, practical-implications, and limitations are presented in the conclusion for future research.

Influence of Project Management Practices on The Implementation of Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations’ Projects: A Case of World-Wide Fund for Nature- Kenya, Kwale County

Purpose: Non-Governmental Organizations are faced with project implementation challenges specifically 70% of environmental projects fail to meet their estimated timeline, budget and objectives. These factors have led researchers to look for possible solutions to pilot smooth execution of projects. The study’s’ drive was to institute the effect of Project Management Practices on Implementation of environmental Non-Governmental Organizations’ projects: A Case of World-Wide Fund for Nature- Kenya-Kenya, Kwale County. The study measured Stakeholders’ Engagement, Project Design, Project Team competence and Monitoring and Evaluation to establish their influence the execution of environmental projects of Non-Governmental Organizations. Methodology: Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The target population was 3,486 drawn and a sample of 90 respondents was arrived using purposive sampling. Data collection was carried out using questionnaires and analyzed using Statistical Package to develop descriptive statistics and draw inferences. Results: The findings clearly showed that all the factors were present in environmental NGOs projects since they had high average means of 4.45, 4.22, 4.37 and 4.5 for the independent variable while the dependent variable Y had a mean of 4.35. Hypothesis was tested after each alternative as per the objective of the researcher using the Chi-Square test and it was determined that all the factors have significant influence on successful implementation of environmental donor-funded projects since they had a significance P value of less than 0.05. The findings further showed that all the four factors; Stakeholders’ Engagement, Project Design, Project Team competence and Monitoring and Evaluation have a positive influence on implementation of environmental Non-Governmental Organizations’ projects. The study established that Stakeholders’ Engagement, had the highest influence on successful implementation of environmental Non-Governmental Organizations’ projects with a significant positive change of 77% if a unit of it is increased, followed by Project Team competence with 72%, Monitoring and Evaluation had an influence of 63% and lastly Project Planning process, had a 47% influence on sustainable implementation of environmental Non-Governmental Organizations’ projects Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The study recommended improved stakeholder involvement and project team competence and improving the monitoring and evaluation function for better performance of environmental Non-Governmental Organizations’ projects.

INFLUENCE OF INTERNAL MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES ON PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL HOUSING PROJECTS IN KIAMBU COUNTY, KENYA

Purpose: The objective of the study was to establish the effect of internal management competencies on performance of commercial housing projects in Kiambu County, Kenya. Methodology: The study employed descriptive research design. There are a total of 100 commercial housing developers operating in Kiambu County. This study targeted owners and operation managers in all the companies. Therefore, the study population was 200 respondents. This study adopted a census approach since the target population is not large. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire. Quantitative data gathered from correctly filled questionnaires was coded; tabulated and analyzed using SPSS version 20 by both descriptive statistics which included mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics which includes Pearson correlation and regression coefficient which was used. The data was presented using frequency tables and graphs. Results: The study revealed that there was a positive association between the variables of the study, that is, leadership competency, financial competency, project consultant competency and information technology competency with coefficients 0.636, 0.645, 0.676 and 0.622 respectively in relation to performance of commercial housing projects in Kiambu County. The p-values of leadership competency, financial competency, project consultant competency and information technology competency were 0.001, 0.011, 0.000 and 0.014 respectively. This implied that there was a significant and positive relation between internal management competencies and performance of commercial housing projects in Kiambu County. Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The commercial housing firms should adopt the various strategic competencies that are useful to an organization to boost the performance of projects in commercial housing. The competencies include leadership and top management skills and financial management. The modern technology in the IT field is useful and should be adopted in the various project firms. Commercial housing firms’ excellence in internal management and acquisition of necessary physical and human resources should be an aim for all the registered firms. This is necessary to ensure quality of the projects.

Determinants Influencing the Performance of Child Welfare Protection Project: A Case of Charitable Children Institutions in Kilifi County, Kenya

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the key determinants influencing the performance of child welfare protection project in Kilifi county, Kenya. The study aimed to achieve the following objectives: to examine the extent to which training of workers influences performance of child welfare protection project, to determine the extent to which stakeholder engagement influences performance of child welfare protection project, to establish the extent to which availability of financial resources influences performance of child welfare protection project and to assess how monitoring and evaluation approaches influences the performance of child welfare protection project.Methodology: The study adopted the descriptive research design. The target population was 20 directors and 110 project workers which summed to 130 persons. The study sampled 101 respondents which included (15) directors and (86) project workers in the social department of 15 child charitable institutions. Purposive sampling and proportionate sampling were utilized respectively. Primary data was collected by use of close ended questionnaire and the return rate was 70%. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version) latest version. The study results were presented through frequency tables and narratives analysis.Results: The findings clearly depict that all determiners: training of workers, stakeholder engagement, availability of financial resources and monitoring and evaluation approaches were present in child welfare projects constituting of the composite mean of 3.9468, 2.988, 3.6798 and 3,9434 respectively while the dependent variable had a composite mean of 4.34. Hypothesis was tested on each alternative as per the objective using the simple Chi square test determined that training of workers had no significant influence on the performance of child welfare protection projects while stakeholder engagement, availability of financial resources and monitoring and evaluation had a significant influence on the performance of child welfare protection projects.Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The study recommends that further research be conducted on training to provide more insight of this variable. The study recommends training of workers through university-agency partnerships be fortified to bring about new ideas and skills among project workers in addition, firms should ensure child welfare practitioners are endowed with valuable M&E skills and suitable approaches to meet the set target and objectives.

Influence of Time Management on Implementation of Road Construction Projects in Kilifi County, Kenya

Purpose: Major road construction projects across Kilifi County have experienced delays in delivery due to a majority of contractors, both local firms and government agencies, failing to adhere to agreed-upon completion dates.it is in the backdrop of these problems that influenced the researcher to establish the influence of time management on the implementation of road projects in Kilifi County. The main purpose of this study was to examine the influence of time management on the implementation’s road constructions projects in Kilifi County.Methodology: The study adopted cross sectional research design and collect data using questionnaires from 120 engineers/project managers, supervisors/inspectors and technicians/foremen from 12 organizations including five construction companies involved in urban road construction projects in Kilifi County, five service providers whose utility facilities run along road construction corridors in Kilifi County, and two state corporations charged with the management of road construction in Kenya. Data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of IBM SPSS Statistics. Descriptive analysis involved the use of frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation in order to summarize the results of the various study variables. Inferential analysis involved the application of Pearson correlation and regression analysis to determine the nature of relationship between time management and implementation of road projects in Kilifi County.Results: The study found out that activity sequencing positively and significantly affects road constructions projects in Kilifi County (r = 0.688, P=0.000 < 0.01). The study further determined that a unit improvement in activity sequencing would lead significantly lead to improvement in road project implementation (β = 0.127, t = 2.037, P=0.044 <0.05). It was also determined that resource estimation positively and significantly affects implementation of road constructions projects in Kilifi County (r = 0.721, P = 0.002 < 0.01). the analysis also showed that a unit improvement in resource estimation would lead to a unit improvement in road project implementation (β = 0.218, t = 2.741, P = 0.005<0.05). The study also determined that activity control significantly and positively predicts implementation of road constructions projects in Kilifi County (r = 0.909, P= 0.000< 0.01). The regression analysis showed that a unit improvement in activity control would significantly lead to an improvement in implementation of road construction projects in the county (β = 0.173, t =3.045, P = 0.003<0.05). Finally, the study found out that institutional capacity affects road projects implementation (r = 0.558, P=0. .003 < 0.01). It was also determined that institutional capacity has moderating influence on the relationship between time management and road project implementation (β = 0.185, t = 4.302, P=0.000 < 0.05).Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The study recommended that for effective time management during implementation of road construction projects, there should be stakeholder involvement as this will facilitate ideas and perspective. Stakeholder involvement in time management and planning, will better their correspondence, improve accuracy of information, increase credibility and acceptance findings and finally improve the quality road constructions projects in Kilifi County.