E-Procurement Implementation And Performance Of County Governments In Kenya

Abstract

Internet technology is no longer optional in the modern worldwide business environment that’s highly competitive, rather, it is mandatory. The study aimed at establishing the extent of e-procurement implementation within Kenyan county governments with a view to determining if there are any obstacles concerning the implementation of e-Procurement among these units of governance as well as figuring out what link exists between electronic procurement execution and performance in the Kenyan county government. Three theories formed the basis for this study: (1) disruptive innovation (2) innovation diffusion, and (3) technology acceptance. This study employed descriptive research design that gain an in-depth understanding of the connection that exists between the execution of e- procurement and the performance of procurement among Kenyan county governments. This research has all the Kenyan county governments that are 47 in number (appendix II) as the targeted population. Given that this is a relatively small population; a census is proposed. Data was collected mainly by use of a questionnaire. The questionnaire has structure open and closed ended questions. It comprises of four sections; section one attempts to extract general information regarding the profile of each respondent. The second section is focuses on the extent to which e-procurement has been implemented by counties in Kenya. The third section is seeking to figure out the connection between the implementation of electronic procurement and the performance of procurement among each of the 47 counties in Kenya. In this study, descriptive statistics were main tool employed in data analysis. For example, frequency distribution tables, standard deviation, as well as mean were utilized. Software employed in the computation of outcomes is SPSS and Ms Excel. Regression analysis was used to help figure out the impact electronic procurement has on procurement performance. The findings of this research are that the advertising of tenders via the web has a great impact on procurement performance in County Governments in Kenya. The study further concluded that online short listing of tenders in County Governments in Kenya influences procurement performance positively. The study also concluded that tenders in County Governments in Kenya are advertised online, all counties staff make requisitions online, there is competitive bidding and sourcing. The study further concludes that the application of online supplier in County Governments in Kenya impacts the procurement performance in a positive way. The study further concluded that online requisition has a great positive relationship on procurement performance in County Governments in Kenya. Therefore, increased online requisition leads to a positive increased in procurement performance. On the online ordering, the study concluded that online ordering in County Governments in Kenya, positively increases procurement performance. The recommendation of this study is that county governments ought to insist on enterprise resource planning requirements throughout any procurement lifecycle for the purpose of enhancing the performance of procurement. It’s the suggestion of this study that there ought to be the adoption of the appropriate Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in the County Governments in Kenya necessary for successful implementation of e-procurement. The study was met with the reluctance by respondents to provide information they deemed private. To overcome the bottleneck, this study guaranteed the respondents of the proprietary steps that would dictate the usage of the provided information. Additionally, the study suggested a broader covering the entire public sector in Kenya should be conducted to ascertain the link between electronic procurement execution and performance. Further research should be carried out on challenges facing electronic procurement execution and performance among Kenyan county governments.