Evaluation of the capacities of Municipal Assemblies to adopt electronic procurement with respect to the influence of technological, organisational and environmental factors, a multiple-case study of nine Municipal Assemblies in the Greater Accra

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2014-07-25
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This study was conducted to evaluate the capacities of Municipal Assemblies to adopt electronic procurement with respect to the influence of technological, organisational and environmental factors, in a multiple case study of nine Municipal Assemblies in the Greater Accra Region. The Municipal Assemblies include: Ga Central, Ashaiman, Adenta, La Dade-Kotopong, Ledzokuku-Krowor, Ga South, Ga West, La Nkwantanang-Madina and Ga East. The objective of the study was ultimately to explore how technology, organisation and environment as proposed by Tornatzky and Fleisher (1990) affect the capacities of Municipal Assemblies to adopt electronic procurement. Major areas considered included the state of electronic procurement in the public sector and the capacities of adoption in terms of the contextual factors (technology, organisation and environment) technology competence, top management support, government regulation in terms of clearly defined legal framework etc. amongst others. A semi-structured interview was administered to staff and management of the Assemblies who have insight into procurement or make relevant procurement decisions in the Municipalities. The study revealed that only five of the Assemblies (Ga Central, Ashaiman, Adenta, La Dade-Kotopong and Ledzokuku-Krowor) exhibited some level of technology competence which could facilitate their migration to e-procurement. The remaining four (Ga South, Ga East, Ga West &La-Nkwantanang Madina) are at a stage where traditional procurement is supported with electronic systems such as computers. It was also discovered that Ghana as a nation does not even have Internet Laws, which could have facilitated national ICT policy formulation. The conclusion drawn from the study indicated that none of the Assemblies presently has the capacity to fully integrate internet tools and platforms to replace the traditional procurement processes. A number of recommendations were made to the Assemblies and Government and these recommendations suggested a review of the Municipal Assemblies’ traditional procurement practices over the years, in areas of technology, their organisation and their operating environment, in order to identify current trends being used all over the world which have proven to be much more efficient with reduced corruption and high outcomes for value for money. Again the Assemblies must also be equipped in terms of physical infrastructure (computers, servers, fax machines, routers etc.) and needed human resources which would support technology adoption. Top management must also show the right commitment to such innovations so that it would make the adoption much easier. Finally the Government is advised to create the enabling environment by facilitating the formulation of National Internet laws which could serve as guidelines for the formulation of comprehensive national ICT policy.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Master of Science degree in Procurement Management,
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