Perceived influence of contractor selection considerations on timely completion of public works projects in Kisumu county government, Kenya

Abstract

Public works projects play an important role in promoting Kenya’s socio-economic development. However, these projects are hardly completed in time, with some being abandoned. Research has documented the critical role that managerial perceptions play in contractor selection considerations in the procurement of public works projects. Perceptions of procurement managers in the award of contracts has assumed new impetus following the revised Kenya’s Public Procurement and Disposal Act (2015), which gives a lot of discretion and power to public procurement managers in procurement decisions. Research confirm that perceptions of procurement managers may influence the decisions made during the awarding process of public works projects and that these decisions may increase or reduce the time that contractors may take to complete these projects. However, few studies have examined the potential influence of procurement managers’ perceptions on contractor selection considerations on the timely completion of public works projects. The purpose of the study was to examine the perceived influence of contractor selection considerations on timely completion of public works projects in Kisumu County. The study had four objectives, namely to establish the extent to which perceived past performance of contractors influence timely completion of public works projects in county government of Kisumu; examine the extent to which perceived low price consideration influence timely completion of public works projects in county government of Kisumu; assess the extent to which perceived project management capability of contractors influence timely completion of public works projects in county government of Kisumu; investigate the extent to which perceived technical capacity of contractors is perceived by procurement officers to influence timely completion of public works projects in county government of Kisumu. A census of all the 30 procurement managers in the county’s public procurement entities was conducted. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. Out of the 30 managers, 22 procurement managers accepted to participate in the study giving a response rate at 73%. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Contractors’ Technical Capability (100%) was the most highly perceived selection consideration that may influence timely completion of public works projects; contractors’ Past Performance (95.8%) was the second highly perceived selection consideration that may influence timely completion of public works projects; contractor’s Project Management Capability (91.7%) was the third highly perceived selection consideration that may influence timely completion of public works projects; with Low Cost Bid (79.2%) as the least perceived selection consideration that may influence timely completion of public works projects. These findings are important since the highly prioritized selection considerations should be taken into considerations when a county government makes decision to award or not to award. It is recommended that a study should be conducted that should include more counties with a larger sample size. Increasing the number of counties and procurement managers may lead to study findings that can be generalized to the rest of the county governments in Kenya. It is further recommended that further studies should be conducted to find out the how perceived influence of contactors selections considerations on timely completion of public works in various counties Implications for this study are discussed.