Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine, empirically the relationship between organizational rationality, knowledge management (KM), risk management and successful implementation of donor-funded projects in Uganda. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from 195 project managers of donor-funded projects both managed within government systems and those outside government using a questionnaire. Zero-order correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were employed to analyze the data. Findings – The paper has two major findings: all the predictor variables are positively and significantly related to successful project implementation; and the relationship is strong enough to cause a 23 percent (R²) increase in the explanatory power in the presence of control variables. Research limitations/implications – The study focussed on selected donor-funded projects in Uganda and this limited the generalization of the findings. Moreover, there was also limited availability of local empirical literature with respect to implementation and performance of donor-funded projects. Practical implications – The results suggest that organizations that embrace organizational rationality, risk management and KM succeed in project implementation. Originality/value – There are many studies that investigate the practices adopted by organizations that implement donor-funded projects, however, this is the first study to the authors’ knowledge that examines the relationship between KM, rationality, risk management and successful implementation of donor-funded projects in Uganda.

Research paper