Procurement Ethics and Organizational Performance of Animal Feeds Manufacturing Firms in Kenya

Abstract

The study adopted a descriptive design and was based on the following objectives: to determine the extent to which procurement ethics have been implemented among animal feeds manufacturing firms in Nairobi Kenya, to establish the relationship between procurement ethics on the organizational performance of animal feeds manufacturing firms in Nairobi Kenya and to determine the challenges faced by same firms in implementing procurement ethics activities. A census approach was adopted and the census consisted of all 38 animal feeds manufacturing firms in Nairobi Kenya as listed in Appendix 2. The findings were presented in frequency tables for easy understanding. The researcher used primary data collected through administering 38 questionnaires to various respondents including supply chain and procurement managements and their equivalent at various animal feeds manufacturing firms in Kenya. However researcher only managed to obtain 25 completed questionnaires representing 66% response rate. Questionnaires were coded, and keyed into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Descriptive statistics such measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion were used to analyze the data. The findings from the study revealed that procurement ethics have been implemented at animal feeds manufacturing firms to a large extent with serving public interest, professionalism and respect to suppliers and also profession laws and ethical standards being the most implemented with highest means while low effort has been put on accountability and transparency and also on honest and integrity. The study findings also found a positive and significant relationship between procurement ethics and organizational performance hence management of the animal feeds manufacturing firms need to uphold the relationship to gain and maintain the competitive advantage in the industry. In regard to challenges faced during implementation of procurement ethics, the research concludes that high cost of implementation and lack of management support, unsupportive organizational culture, resistance and training in implementation of supply chain management practices were the most faced challenges. The study recommends manufacturing firms to hire competent procurement staff that can be entrusted in implementation, management and measurement of procurement ethics.