AGILE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND PROJECT PERFORMANCE IN RWANDAN SCHOOLS: A CASE OF RWANDA QUALITY BASIC EDUCATION FOR HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Abstract

The current research examines the influence of agile management practices on project performance in Rwandan schools using the case of Rwanda Quality Basic Education for Human Capital Development project. The objectives of this research were to assess the influence of strategic agility, operational agility, and stakeholder agility on project performance in Rwanda Quality Basic Education for Human Capital Development project. The organizational adaptation theory, situational theory and triple constraints theory have been adopted as the theoretical foundations of this research while strategic agility, operational agility, stakeholder agility and project performance are the critical conceptual foundations. The researcher will use both qualitative and quantitative methods including correlation analysis and case study research designs. The population of study was 431 including 15 MINEDUC staff, 96 head teachers and 320 teachers. The sample size was 289 people including 15 MINEDUC staff, 96 head teachers and 178 teachers. However, the overall response rate was 187 people (64.7%) including 133 (71.1%) teachers, 48 (25.7%) head teachers and 6 (3.3%) project management staff. Simple random sampling was used to select teachers while purposive sampling was used to select MINEDUC staff and head teachers. The close-ended questionnaire was used to collect data. Content validity index and Cronbach alpha coefficients were used to establish validity and reliability respectively. Descriptive (means and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation and regression) were used to analyze data. Findings from the hypothesis test show that: 1) strategic agility has a statistically significance influence on the performance of the RQBEHCD project between 2017 and 2023 (β=.753, p<.05), 2) operational agility has a statistically significance influence on the performance of the RQBEHCD project between 2017 and 2023 (β=-.330, p<.05), and 3) stakeholder agility has a statistically significance influence on the performance of the RQBEHCD project between 2017 and 2023 (β=-.404, p<.05). The study contributes valuable insights into the dynamic interplay between agile practices and project success within the Rwandan educational context. Stakeholders should prioritize proactive communication and engagement, provide ongoing professional development for teachers, promote flexibility in work plans under the guidance of head teachers, implement proactive issue resolution strategies, and foster a culture of continuous improvement in agile project management practices. It is hoped that this study will enable the managers of Rwanda Quality Basic Education for Human Capital Development project to formulate better project designs that integrate agile management practices in order to enhance project performance. The study also contributes knowledge on agile management and project performance in Rwanda to the academic field.