Strategic management of local development projects: a case of local development projects in Yilo Krobo District, Ghana

In Ghana the link between the plan and its implementation is weak. For this study, it is observed that in Yio Krobo district, existing development conditions are worse than the planned development conditions. It is unlikely that local development projects hitherto implemented are successful or whether the original objectives are achieved and whether the intended beneficiaries are satisfied with these projects. It is widely argued that for any success in implementation there should be strategic management. Strategic management is a set of decisions and actions in the formulation and implementation of1ans to achieve given objectives. The main hypothesis of this study is that there is a close relationship between strategic management and the success of local development projects in Yio Krobo district. That is, if strategic management is applied in implementing local development projects then their success will be enhanced. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate whether strategic management enhances the success of local development projects in the study district. Five projects from education, water and sanitation in the urban and rural areas of the district are selected for this study. The case study method is adopted for field research and analysis of data. Data for the study is collected using the following techniques: institutional surveys; household interviews; archival investigation; interviews with key informants; and direct field observation. During the field research 190 people are interviewed. These include; 160 households, 25 senior members from key institutions in the district and five key informants. Pattern matching and explanation building are the main analytical strategies employed for data analysis. The study finds that except for physical accessibility the study projects do not satisfy the needs of households. Further, the study shows that community involvement in decision making for implementation of projects is motivated by a desire to improve their living conditions but seriously limited by several militating factors like poverty, politicization of projects and an expectation that the government must provide development. The study finds that organizational structure for implementation of local development projects is ineffective. The study shows that there is a schism between the implementing agencies and the communities. Another finding of the study is that there is no coherent system of monitoring and evaluation for local development projects in the district. Since the findings of this study show that satisfaction of household needs is weak; organizational structure for implementation is ineffective; and that there is no coherent monitoring and evaluation system for local development project; then it can be justifiably concluded that strategic management is not applied in implementing the study projects. From these results therefore, the main hypothesis of the study that; if strategic management is applied in implementing local development, then their success will be enhanced should be accepted as true. To strengthen strategic management and implementation of local development projects, four main recommendations are suggested. First, implementation should be guided by the strategic management model presented in this report. Second, to address the absence of community involvement that bedevils household satisfaction the Assembly embarks on education of identified actors. The third recommendation addresses organizational structure. To strengthen the existing structure it is proposed that horizontal and vertical communication among key actors is strengthened. Additionally, revenue performance in the district should be improved. Lastly, to establish a coherent system of monitoring and evaluation, the Assembly will need to reconceptualise its activities along the model proposed for monitoring and evaluation.

Source: KNUST