E-Procurement And Supply Chain Performance Of Public Hospitals In Kiambu County

Abstract

E-Procurement among public hospitals marked progress in many areas over the past decades. Procurement function is considered the most significant in organizational performance as well as supply chain performance. Procurement involves different firms or a specific firm through procurement department, purchasing goods and services at the right place, right time, right quality and right price for user departments. The objective of the study was to establish influence of e-Procurement on supply chain performance of public hospitals in Kiambu County. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to determine the extent of e-procurement adoption among public hospitals in Kiambu County and to establish the influence of e-procurement on supply chain performance of public hospitals in Kiambu County. The study was anchored on; Principal-Agent theory and the dynamic capability theory. This study employed descriptive survey research design. In this study, the population consisted of public hospitals in Kiambu County. Kiambu County has 59 facilities (Appendix II) classified in the following tiers: Tier 5- Inter-county facility (1), Tier 4 -Hospitals (19) and Tier 3 -Health Centres (39). Since the target population is not too large, a census was carried out. The study used primary data. Questionnaires and observation schedule were used to collect data. The quantitative data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as includes frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Data analysis was done with help of software program SPSS version 25.0. Content analysis was used in processing of qualitative data from open ended questions and results presented in prose form. Further, a multivariate regression model and correlation were applied to determine the relative importance of each of the variables with respect to e-Procurement. The findings reveal that the public hospitals implemented the allocation of responsibility, advertising, supplier involvement and sourcing projects per month. On the influence of e-procurement on quality of supply chain performance, the study found that the paperwork is minimal. Furthermore, on the influence of e-procurement on dependability of supply chain, the study found that e-procurement increases productivity. Concerning the impact of e-procurement on timeliness of supply chain, the study found that e-procurement encourages use of technology. The study concluded that e-planning practice had the greatest influence on the supply chain performance of public hospitals in Kiambu County, followed by e-sourcing then e-supplier selection practice while e-tendering practice had the least influence on the supply chain performance of public hospitals in Kiambu County. The study recommends that public hospitals management should consider implementing e-procurement system in their respective organizations for the smooth running of the supply chain. The resistant staff should be trained enough to see the importance of e-procurement in the promotion of supply chain performance. The government through the relevant ministry should institute policies concerning data handling to enhance the application of electronic procurement practices between the buyers and suppliers. Time was a major challenge the researcher faced in the course of doing this study. Another challenge faced was the administration of the questionnaires and scarcity of funds. Future researchers should consider conducting a similar study with respect to public hospitals within Nairobi County and the same can be replicated in other counties as well. The study recommends further research to document findings on the achievements of e-planning practice, e–tendering practice, e-supplier selection practice and e-sourcing to firms.