ROLE OF E-PROCUREMENT ADOPTION ON PROCUREMENT PERFORMANCE IN STATE CORPORATIONS IN KENYA: A CASE OF KENYA UTALII COLLEGE
Elly Ochieng Osir - Masters of Science in Procurement and Logistics, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Due to remarkable improvement noted in procurement performance owing to the adoption of e-tendering, e-award, e-ordering and e-invoicing as main electronic procurement procedures; e-procurement has been heralded as a revolution in the e-market place; and as such, has been rapidly adopted by many private corporations. Faced with persistent public complaints over dismal procurement performance; an increasing number of state corporations are beginning to adopt e-procurement solution in order to realize its promises that have already been achieved by many private sector firms, especially in the developed world. In line with the global trend, Kenyan state corporations are confronted with problems of poor service delivery, high cost of procurement, increased procurement lead-time and non-compliance with procurement policy. As one of the state corporations, Kenya Utalii College (KUC) has not been spared by these problems. Thus, employing KUC as a case study; the overall aim of this study was to examine the role of e-procurement adoption on procurement performance in state corporations in Kenya. The study objectives were to determine the role of e-tendering on procurement performance; assess the role of e-awarding on procurement performance; examine the role of e-ordering on procurement performance and to establish the role of e-invoicing on procurement performance in state corporations in Kenya. The target population of the study was one hundred and twenty (120) employees working at KUC in the level of departmental head, immediate supervisor and lower cadre employees. A sample of 55 employees in the corporation was taken out of this sampling frame. Data was collected through questionnaires. Fifty five (55) questionnaires were administered within KUC; out of which forty eight (48) were returned. Analysis of the data on demographic information was done using frequency and percentage tables. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze e-tendering, e-award, e-ordering and e-invoicing adopted by state corporations; correlation analysis was used to measure the degree of association between the dependent and independent variables; regression analysis was conducted to determine the statistical significance between the independent variables and dependent variable. Finally, the ANOVA test was used to determine whether the model employed in the study is important in predicting the procurement performance. The study revealed that state corporations have adopted e-tendering, e-award, e-ordering and e-invoicing to some extent in order to enhance their procurement performance. The regression analysis conducted revealed that the respective e-procurement procedures adopted had a significant influence on the procurement performance of state corporations. Results show that the implementation of e-procurement has developed substantially during recent years, but state corporations in Kenya have still not yet adopted and utilized e-procurement to its full potential. The study recommends that the government should come up with holistic system integration and technological standards; develop legal framework and government policy that makes it mandatory for all bidders to adopt e-procurement; install a solid system security and authentication among State Corporation; and finally, develop a comprehensive e-procurement implementation strategy and ensure adoption of the same by all state corporations in Kenya. The study reiterates the need for further research to be conducted on the institutional responses to e-procurement adoption among state corporations in Kenya; and finally, the factors affecting the uptake and usage of e-procurement initiative within state corporations in Kenya. The study was constrained by uncooperative respondents and policy on confidentiality.
