Supply Chain Process Digitalization and the Effectiveness of Procurement Transactions Among Parastatals: a Case of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority

Abstract

Public procurement is a crucial market in any economy since it often uses a significant amount of a country's public income. Public procurement procedures are essential to the efficacy and efficiency of development expenditures. Public organisations have continually had to encounter business-related problems like acquiring timely and highly reliable data and information, data-processing in the course of business transactions, storage of data using convenient means, and also retrieval mechanisms that enable prompt decision-making and adequate management control of the organisation. This study aimed to assess the influence of supply chain process digitalization on the effectiveness of procurement transactions among parastatals. The study was anchored on the following theories; digital efficiency theory and the technology acceptance model theory. An interview guide was used as a data collection instrument targeting 20 senior employees of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority. The data collected was analyzed using content analysis. The study established data consolidation, staff digital proficiency and public procurement information portal has a positive and significant effect on the efficiency of the procurement transactions. It was established that data consolidation has made the data and information available, timely and easily accessible, staff digital proficiency has enabled the organization to reduce the time spent to perform tasks, reduce error and increase the productivity and public procurement information portal has enabled the organization to retrieve summarized information easily and interact with various stakeholders through the internet platform. The study concludes that supply chain process digitalization has a positive effect on the efficiency of procurement transactions at Kenya Rural Roads Authority. The study recommends that the management of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) to effectively prepare employees through training before implementation of technologies in the organization and that policy makers in the National Treasury and Public Procurement Regulatory Authority should increase the amount of budgetary allocation at KeRRA for the implementation of the current supply chain process technologies and training of the employees. Future studies should focus on different approach rather than case study and the use of statistical approaches to draw the conclusion of the study.