DOES PERFORMANCE OF NGO PROJECTS LEVERAGE ON RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES?
DOES PERFORMANCE OF NGO PROJECTS LEVERAGE ON RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES?
Joyce Kamunya - School of Business, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
Dr. Perris W. Chege - School of Business, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
ABSTRACT
For many decades, Kenya's economic development has been promoted through various projects run by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These include projects include complementary relief services, educational programmes, child welfare, and health services among others. Even though success has been experienced in many of the projects, there are several examples indicating failures thus showing that projects face many risks. Key among the touted problems leading to the poor performance has been the risks undertaken in running the projects. This article aims to link the performance of NGO projects to specific risk management strategies based in Nairobi County. Theoretical anchor focuses on the stakeholder theory, supported by the theory of resource-based view and agency theory. To accomplish the objectives, descriptive approach research design sufficed, and random stratified sampling aimed at 110 projects run by NGOs, as indicated in the 2018/2019 KNGOB report. Project officers at the NGOs acted as the key respondents while the unit of analysis was performance of the NGO projects. Data collection utilised a structured questionnaire administered mainly using online approach in the face of covid-19 health restrictions with a response rate of 84 out of the targeted 110 projects. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in finding field results. Through regression analysis with a linear model result showed a strong relationship between risk management strategies and project performance. The resulting value of regression coefficient at .000 (p<0.05) indicated existence of relationships that were relatively strong. The article concludes that performance success of projects is dependent on the careful choice or selection of risk management strategies. It is expected the results will benefit various stakeholders, including the government policy makers, NGO sector players, and academia. These article findings additionally boost the body of knowledge of NGOs, project performance, and risk management strategies with related theories. Further studies exploring more strategies to manage risks as well as projects in other entities including urban, rural and County sectors could be undertaken by other scholars.
