An Overview of the Performance of Public Infrastructure Megaprojects in Kenya

The need for this study arose from the thesis that infrastructure megaprojects are often delivered over budget, behind schedule, with benefit shortfalls, over and over again. Many studies have been conducted towards this conclusion but these studies have not included Kenya which is increasingly adopting megaprojects as a model for delivering public goods and services. Through this quantitative study utilizing a cross-sectional census survey design, the performance of 27 completed public infrastructure megaprojects was assessed using broader measures of project success. The findings agree that these projects are delivered over budget and behind schedule but not with benefit shortfalls. It is also confirmed that process or project management success does not necessarily lead to product or organizational success. It is recommended that public infrastructure megaproject sponsors and implementers adopt project structures that allow for innovation through the use of advanced technology. Such structures should encourage the use of competitive tendering and a preference for pain/gain contractual arrangements to accommodate the differences in risk preferences between the client and the contractor, and to minimize the incidences of agency problem among the various stakeholders

Influence of Human Behavior on Success of Complex Public Infrastructural Megaprojects in Kenya

The main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of human behavior on the success of public infrastructural megaprojects in Kenya. The need for this study arose from the thesis that complexity due to human behavior is the main cause of waste and failure that results in infrastructural megaprojects being delivered over budget, behind schedule, with benefit shortfalls, over and over again. The study was designed as multiple-method research, based on virtual constructionist ontology recognizing that complexity is the mid-point between order and disorder. A cross-sectional census survey of 27 completed public infrastructural megaprojects was conducted using two interlinked questionnaires assessing human behavior constructs and project success. A total of 108 respondents made up of project managers, team members and organizational sponsors, participated in this study. Using both descriptive and inferential analysis, the results of this study have confirmed that human behavior significantly influences success of public infrastructural megaprojects. Optimism bias remains the main individual behavior that leads to cost and schedule underperformance in infrastructural megaprojects but loss aversion is the most occurring cognitive bias. In light of this finding, the study recommends that implementing organizations adopt structures that allow for continued business justification, focus on products and give project managers sufficient authority over project resources in line with the postulations of the structural contingency theory