Monitoring and Evaluation Practices and Organisational Performance: A Case of Food Processing Firms in Selected Cities in Ghana

Abstract

The study examined the effects of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) practices on the organisational performance of food processing firms in Ghana. It specifically investigated the M&E practices adopted by these firms and how major practices comprising the baseline study, M&E budget and M&E planning affect their firms’ organisational performance. This quantitative and descriptive-based research was underpinned by the stakeholder theory and the diffusion of innovations theory. The study gathered primary data via structured questionnaires from 174 sampled managers in a target population of 509 food processing firms operating in the Accra, Tema and Cape Coast cities. It focused on and gathered data from only firms that currently adopt the M&E practices. After the data collection, a data set of 157 was obtained and processed via the IBM SPSS (v.26) and SmartPLS software. Data analysis was done using the PLS-SEM technique. The study found that all the three key M&E practices (baseline, planning and budget) significantly and positively affected these firms’ performance. It was concluded that adopting the M&E practices positively predict any change in the firms’ performance. Hence, policy makers including the owners and management of the food processing firms should pay maximum attention to their M&E practices to attain higher organisational performance. KEYWORDS: Baseline Study, Monitoring and Evaluation, M&E Planning, M&E Budget, Organisational Performance