Electronic Procurement Practices and Global Supply Chain Performance of International Non-governmental Organizations in Nairobi

Abstract

International non-governmental organizations (INGO’s) are key to Kenya’s economy based on the role they play in fostering local development, fighting for human right and humanitarian activities. The study purpose was to establish the extent of electronic procurement practices implementation in INGO’s in Nairobi, to determine the impact of electronic procurement practices on global supply chain performance in INGO’s in Nairobi and to investigate the barriers faced in implementation of electronic procurement in INGO’s. It was specifically intended to establish how, electronic sourcing, electronic tendering, electronic requisitioning, electronic approvals and electronic payments affect Global Supply Chain Performance (GSCP) of INGO’s in Nairobi. The study was guided by technology acceptance model and transactional cost economics theory. Data collection was effected by use of structured questionnaires which were distributed through drop and pick method to all INGO’s in Nairobi. Procurement/ Supply Chain Managers or their equivalent were the targeted population from the sixty-four (64) INGO’s in Nairobi. Data collected was examined by using descriptive and multiple regression analysis. The findings of the study concluded that implementation of electronic procurement practices in INGO’s in Nairobi is to a moderate extent. The second objective being investigated indicated that there exists a positive relationship between implementation of electronic procurement practices and Global Supply Chain Performance in INGO’s in Nairobi as per the results obtained. Besides 46%, of quality, 73% of cost reduction, 51% of timeliness and 64% of responsiveness was affected by implementation of electronic procurement practices. Based on barriers, the study findings were: high costs of implementation of e-procurement, high costs of training staff, resistance to change by staff, inadequate technological infrastructure, non-supporting organizational culture lack of performance measurement systems were the significant barriers to implementation of electronic procurement in INGO’s in Nairobi among others. The main limitation of the study was that the INGO’s being studied were only in Nairobi County based and also the GSCP studied were constrained to four i.e. Quality; Cost; Time and Responsiveness. To mitigate on these limitation future academicians should research on electronic procurement practices in other firms rather than INGO’s in Nairobi and should expound on the global supply chain performance other than quality, cost, time and responsiveness.