TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND PERFORMANCE OF HIV/AIDS PROJECTS IN RWANDA - A CASE OF AIDS HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION

Rwanda’s Vision 2030 puts healthcare as one of its integral pillars. HIV/AIDS is one of the biggest challenges in the health sector and Rwanda’s economy at large since the disease led to reduction of labour supply and productivity as well as increased government expenditure on importation of expensive healthcare goods. Total quality management is one of the key factors that affect the success of projects and has gained popularity among project managers overtime. This study sought to investigate total quality management practices and performance of HIV/AIDS projects in Rwanda. Specifically, the study analyzed the effects of top management commitment, employee involvement and staff training on the performance of HIV/AIDS control projects. The study is helpful to project managers in policy formulation and rational decision making. It is also helpful to the Rwandan government in making informed decisions towards achieving health care provision objectives. The donors’ confidence in funding health projects may also be boosted by the findings of this research. The study adopted descriptive and correlational research designs. A sample of 98 respondents was drawn from a population of 130 consisting of the staff and project managers of Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Rwanda. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample size in this study. Data used was of primary nature collected using questionnaires. Quantitative and qualitative data collected were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22 and the findings presented in tables and figures. Regression and correlation analysis were used to establish an interaction between the dependent and independent variables. Descriptive findings indicated that over 75%, 85% and 90% of respondents did agree that at top management commitment, employee involvement and training practices respectively are practiced at AHF Rwanda. Correlation findings did indicate a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.780, 0.630 and 0.690 for top management commitment, employee involvement and training practices respectively with significance values of 0.01 for all. Lastly the betta coefficients for top management training, employee involvement and training practices were 0.163, 0.235 and 0.126 respectively with corresponding probability values of 0.011, 0.002 and 0.036 and R squared value was found to be 71.5%. The study concluded that TQM including top management commitment, employee involvement and training are practiced largely at Aids Healthcare Foundation. Hence, a strong positive significant relationship between TQM practices and performance of HIV/AIDS projects in Rwanda. The study recommends AHF project managers to focus more on TQM practices, particularly management commitment on project activities, involvement of other employees in decision making and creating an enabling working environment and lastly, they should consider enhancing human resource training as a way to enhance project performance. Additionally, the government and the donors should ensure that TQM practices are implemented in the healthcare projects in order to realize positive results from such projects. JEL: I10; I18; J21 Article visualizations: