INFLUENCE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT SKILLS ON PERFOMANCE OF BANK FINANCED PROJECTS IN KENYA: A CASE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS PROJECTS
Banks are fundamental in the economic progress of any country as they are largely responsible for channeling and converting savings into investments through the provision of both long and short term loans. Over the past decade the construction industry in Kenya has drawn considerable attention from the banking industry with latest statistics from KNBS indicating that the sector had KSh81.1 billion in gross by the end of 2013 up from KSh71.7 billion in 2010. This development has seen mo st banks rely on project managers to oversee the execution of these projects. This study sought to explore the influence of project cost management, project time management, project risk management and project quality management skill in enhancing the performance of financed projects in Kenyan banks. The study design employed was descriptive research The target population was 194 and census was used to select 144 respondents. Data was collected from financial reports, personal interviews and questionnaires and analysed using content analysis and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 21) The information was presented using bar charts, graphs and pie charts and in prose form. The study adopted correlation and regression analysis at 5% level of significance to determine strength and direction of the relationship of the variables under study. The analysis showed that project risk management had the strongest positive (Pearson correlation coefficient .777 with p values of .001) influence on performance of bank financed projects. In addition, project cost management, project time management and project quality management are positively correlated to performance of bank financed projects with Pearson correlation coefficient of .657, .598 and .543 with p values of .005, .008 and .011 respectively. The study found that all four variables significantly influence the performance of financed projects in Kenyan banks. The study recommends that project managers working in Kenyan banks should improve their project cost management skills. Lastly, the study recommends that top management in Kenya banks should give the required support to project time management team so as to ensure the success of projects. Key Words: Cost Management, Time Management, Risk Management, Project Quality, Performance of Bank Finance Projects in Kenya.