INFLUENCE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON PROJECT PERFORMANCE IN PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION UNITS OF THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF NAIROBI, KENYA

Project performance remains a major concern in public sector institutions due to persistent project delays, cost overruns, and failure to achieve intended development outcomes. Change management practices have increasingly been recognized as essential in enabling organizations to adapt to changing organizational, technological, and policy environments, thereby improving project implementation outcomes. This study examined the influence of change management practices on project performance in Project Implementation Units (PIUs) of the County Government of Nairobi, Kenya. The study was anchored on the Dynamic Capabilities Theory and adopted a convergent parallel mixed-methods research design. A target population of 215 employees was used, from which 140 respondents were selected through stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Primary data were collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis, while qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis. The findings established that change management practices had a positive and statistically significant relationship with project performance (r = 0.211, p < 0.05) and significantly predicted project performance (β = 0.201, p = 0.036). Qualitative findings reinforced the importance of effective communication, employee adaptability, stakeholder engagement, and structured change implementation in enhancing project performance. The study concludes that strengthening structured change management practices enhances project performance in public sector Project Implementation Units. The study recommends institutionalizing comprehensive change management programmes, strengthening communication mechanisms, and enhancing staff capacity-building initiatives to improve project implementation outcomes within county governments.