Project Management Practices And Implementation Of Information Technology Projects Among Selected Commercial Banks In Kenya

 ABSTRACT

Projects in commercial banks are directed towards serving customers more efficiently and

effectively and reduce costs for the banking institution. However, a number of projects in the

Kenyan banking industry show that successful project implementation is a problem. Failure of

such projects therefore impacts negatively on the customers as they do not get what they should

from commercial banks culminating to business loss and customer inconvenience. The purpose

of the study was to establish the effects of project management practices on implementation of

information technology projects among commercial banks in Kenya. Specifically the study

sought to assess the effect of fund management, stakeholder management and project risk

management on implementation of information technology projects among commercial banks in

Kenya. The study was guided by systems theory and the theory of constraints. The study used a

descriptive survey design. Both primary and secondary data was collected. Project Manager and

the project team derived from the human resource, information technology, customer care,

finance and credit departments were the respondent of the questionnaire in each bank. Both

descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Correlation was used to

analyze the degree of relationship between the variables in the study. Further, regression was

used to obtain an equation which describes the dependent variable in terms of the independent

variable based on the regression model. According to the analysis of the findings, the

respondents indicated that they prepare cash flow statements very often. The findings indicated

that the respondents agreed that they set up credit guidelines for customers very often. In terms

of monitoring and evaluation, the respondents agreed that monitoring and evaluation enhances

the quality of project management. According to the findings, risk is considered key factors for a

performance management and that the banks have implemented risk management systems. The

study concluded that well organized monitoring system creates a solid base for proper design of

final evaluation. The results indicated that project monitoring and evaluation has the strongest

positive influence on implementation of IT projects. In addition, fund management practices,

stakeholder management and project risk management are positively correlated to

implementation of IT projects. The correlation matrix implies that the independent variables

have a positive influence on implementation of IT projects. This implies that these variables are

very significant therefore need to be considered in any effort to boost IT project implementation

in commercial banks in Kenya. The study recommends that the management should involve

stakeholders, fund managers, project monitoring and evaluation and project risk managers in

project life cycle. The managers should be willing and able to listen, truly seeking and valuing

diverse voices, making a special effort to hear and understand. The banks should adopt the most

updated ICT banking strategies and open source software for non-critical internal processes to enhance efficiency in the implementation of IT projects.