INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND PERFORMANCE OF COUNTY WATER PROJECTS: A CASE OF MAKUENI COUNTY
Esther Mutave Ivongo - Master of Business Administration (Project Management), Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Peris Chege - Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Clean, safe and accessible water is an essential component of life in the world and even though there is sufficient fresh water in the planet for use by every person in the world today, due to poor infrastructure, millions of people every year suffer from poor water quality and inadequate water supply. In the last one decade numerous water projects have been launched in Kenya by the national government, County governments as well as local and international NGOs in an effort to improve accessibility to clean and safe water. Although these institutions are actively involved in the improvement of accessibility to clean and safe water, the water projects are still not able to meet the daily demand of water consumption from the growing population. The general objective of the study was to investigate the effect of information technology on performance of water projects in Makueni County. The specific objective of this study were to determine the effect of electronic procurement, supply chain integration, electronic records management and electronic communication on performance of water projects in Makueni County. The target population of this study was 43 water projects in Makueni County (Appendix III) and its stakeholders. Descriptive research design was selected in this study as it allows the incorporation of both quantitative and qualitative approaches in a study. Primary data was collected by use of semi-structured questionnaires. Quantitative data from the closed ended questions was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 22) which is a statistical software. The data was then presented in tables and graphs. Multiple regression analysis and correlation analysis were used to determine the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. The results indicated that electronic procurement had a positive and significant effect on the performance of water projects in Makueni County. The study also found that electronic record management had a positive and significant effect on the performance of water projects in Makueni County. In addition, the study established that electronic communication had a positive and significant effect on the performance of water projects in Makueni County. Further, the study revealed that supply chain integration had a positive and significant effect on the performance of water projects in Makueni County. The study concludes that electronic record management was the most significant factor affecting the performance of water projects in Makueni County, followed by electronic communication, electronic procurement and supply chain integration. Therefore, the study recommends that Makueni County should fully adopt electronic procurement to allow online advertisement, online submission of tender information and electronic tender evaluation. In addition, the County government of Makueni should fully adopt electronic payments so as to reduce fraud and complaints and improve accuracy in payments. Further, the study recommends full adoption of supply chain integration among all stakeholders involved in water projects in the County. The County government of Makueni should adopt electronic records management to automate the records system in all type of projects. Also, the management and administration of County government of Makueni should adopt increase the use of emails and local area network to improve communication.
