Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Craig Martin

Abstract

Effective utilization of donor resources for maternal health remains a challenge in Ghana. The purpose of this descriptive multiple case study was to identify strategies and processes that recipient partners use to improve the utilization of maternal health program funds. Harrod and Domar's aid-to-investment-to-growth model, Collier's game theory, and Martens' agency theory on aid effectiveness informed the conceptual framework of the study. The study included face-to-face semistructured interviews with 7 program and project managers from 7 UNFPA recipient institutions in Ghana. Data analysis involved assembling, rearrangement, categorizing, and interpreting the data. Member checking and methodological triangulation of interview data with evidence from administrative documents of the 7 recipient institutions occurred to assure the validity of this study's findings. Three themes emerged: clearly identifying and effectively implementing program and project budget support mechanisms, implementing robust aid effectiveness management processes, and utilizing effective project management practices. Findings indicated institutional capacity strengthening, developing and using control mechanisms, and mitigation of funds disbursement delays and activity implementation delays as derivative pathways for maximizing utilization of maternal health program funds. The findings provide potential lessons for similar organizations' improving funds utilization by project management practitioners to sustain or increase donors' interest and mitigate development programs' funding gaps. Implications for social change include the potential for maternal mortality reduction to improve the wellbeing and quality of life of rural, poor, and marginalized women and children in Ghana.

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