Ethical procurement practices and supply chain performance of Kenyan energy sector

Abstract

Ethical procurement practices are acceptable norms that supply chain professionals and institutions should adopt to ensure flawless supply process. There are a lot of challenges that are created including developing an effective and efficient supply chain which can become a core competency. The study general objective was to evaluate ethical procurement practices and supply chain performance of Kenyan energy sector. The study was guided by following specific objectives, to establish the ethical procurement practices commonly used by firms in the Kenyan energy sector and to determine the relationship between ethical procurement practices and supply chain performance of firms in the Kenyan energy sector. This study adopted a descriptive research design. Descriptive analysis involved the use of frequencies in their absolute and relative forms (percentage). Mean and standard deviations were also used as measures of central tendencies and dispersion respectively. Regression and correlation analysis were used to assess the strength of the relationships between the specified variables. Various statistics were extracted and interpreted with respect to the various models. Inferential analysis has been done, thus, testing the hypotheses of the study. The returned questionnaires were 93.75% and unreturned questionnaires were 6.25%. From the responses in the questionnaires it was noted that majority of the respondents (33.3%) had been in the firms for a continuous period of 6-10 years.The study concluded that supply chain performance is influenced by accountability practices in procurement. The study also established that integrity practices in procurement should be adopted in the energy firms in order to ensure supply chain performance. Further research may be conducted to investigate interaction of other variables that evaluate ethical procurement practices and supply chain performance of Kenyan energy sector, to establish the ethical procurement practices commonly used by firms in the Kenyan energy sector and to determine the relationship between ethical procurement practices and supply chain performance of firms in the Kenyan energy sector.