Exploring the potential of open competition for achieving value for money in public sector procurement.
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Date
2021-07-05
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Abstract
An effective and efficient way of achieving value for money in the procurement process
is by open competition, which is allowing all eligible contractors and suppliers to tender
for contracts without any restrictions once the contractors and suppliers are qualified. The
purpose of the study was to explore the potential of open competition for achieving value
for money in public sector procurement. The objectives were; identify the factors
considered in adopting competitive tendering methods, to identify the types of competitive
tendering methods, to determine the challenges in achieving value for money when using
open competition and finally to identify some measures put in place in achieving value for
money. The data collection tools included questionnaires and interviews whiles the target
population included procuring officials and other stakeholders. Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (SPSS version 25) was used in the analysis, taking into consideration the
mean score ranking to analyse the data obtained from various respondents. Limitations
from the research were of the geographic focus and due to time constraints the study was
limited to only one region and on the ministries. This impacted the population and sample
size. Implications for the study is a step towards achieving value for money in public
procurement through open competition as a default method of procurement. The findings
revealed that procurement thresholds as a major factor influencing the use of open
competition, national competitive tendering was the most commonly used open
competitive tendering method, value management as a major factor that achieves value for
money, on challenges recorded, political and management interference was a major
challenge and on measures to enhance value for money, procurement audits was most
recognized, The findings will help in enhancing the practise of procurement in public
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction, Technology and
Management, College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Aaward Degree of Master of Science in Procurement Management.
Keywords
Potential of open competition, Value for money, Public sector procurement