| dc.description.abstract | The role of purchasing in corporate success has changed considerably due to the
advances in information technologies and information systems. E-procurement has thus
gained strategic visibility in its role in enhancing inter-functional and inter-organizational
relationships and has emerged as the driving force behind several supply chain practices.
This study sought to examine factors influencing e-procurement implementation among
private hospitals in Kenya. It was guided by three specific objectives: to examine the
extent of e-procurement implementation, establish the factors influencing implementation
of e-procurement and to find out the relationship between the identified factors and e-procurement
implementation among private healthcare service providers in Nairobi,
Kenya. The study employed a descriptive research design. The population consisted of all
the 58 private health care service providers accredited by the National Hospital Insurance
Fund. Since the population was relatively small, a census was done. Primary data was
collected from procurement/finance personnel using a semi-structured questionnaire.
Data analysis was done using SPSS with the main analysis tools being frequencies, mean
and standard deviation, factor analysis and multivariate linear regression. The study
found that e-procurement had been implemented to a moderate extent by the NHIF
accredited hospitals. Seven factors that influence e-procurement implementation were
identified through factor analysis. These include: risk perception, end user training,
existing technology, top management support, supplier systems integration,
implementation strategy and vendor support. Four out of the seven variables were found
to have statistically significant relationships with e-procurement implementation. These
include: Risk perception which had a negative relationship with e-procurement
implementation, Existing Technology, Top management support and implementation
strategy all of which had positive relationships. An examination of the joint relationship
confirmed these findings and established that the seven variables jointly account for
66.3% of the variability in e-procurement implementation. It was recommended that
private hospitals should seek ways to enhance greater collaboration within the industry
and with suppliers so as to hasten the pace of implementation of e-procurement. Further,
since risk perception is a key driver, hospital associations, the private sector, the
government and other stakeholder should facilitate empirical studies to be conducted to
dispel any myths and to help private hospitals better understand the genuine risks as well
as the cost benefit tradeoffs involved in adoption and implementation of e-procurement. It
was suggested that since the present study focused only on private hospitals accredited by
NHIF, future studies should consider expanding the scope by including public hospitals.
Future studies should also consider expanding the topic to include moderating variables
like firm size and firm age. | en |
