Impact of e-procurement on procurement practice; case study – Newmont Ghana Gold Limited
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Date
2015-02-20
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Abstract
The use of e-procurement in recent times has gained a lot of popularity in Europe and
Asia. In Ghana, e-procurement is commonly known to the mining and Oil and Gas
industries. Whilst some industries do not see the value in investing in this technology in
procurement, others do appreciate its value from literature but require practical evidence
from practicing organizations in our very country.
It is therefore the aim of this study to establish the impact of e -procurement on
procurement practice, using Newmont Ghana Gold Limited - Ahafo as a case study. The
impact of e-procurement on efficiency, communication, compliance, transparency, record
keeping and retrieval of documents, and planning and forecasting were considered.
The research design is a case study using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. A
two stage approach was adopted to collect data. Sampling techniques employed included
a census for the first stage and purposive sampling for the second stage. Whilst the
primary and secondary sources of data were used, questionnaires and interviews were
used as data collection instruments. Relative importance index and descriptive statistics
were used as data analytical tools.
The study reveals that the popularity of e-procurement and its deployment in many
organizations in recent times hinges on it being a tactical tool used purposely to support
strategic goals of a function and not merely because it is a new trend in procurement.
Some strategic goals are to ensure compliance in processes and reduce the level of effort
of employees.
The study reveals that e-procurement improves communication by making information
flow quicker and easier, improves compliance to procurement processes whilst reducing
maverick spending. It also improves transparency into processes and work load, improves
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record keeping, planning and forecasting. E-procurement also positively impacts
efficiency with regards to a reduction in; lead times, volume of paperwork, repetition of
administrative procedures, efforts required to complete similar task as manual paper-based system.
The study however reveals that whilst e-procurement has the potential to save cost
through reduction in prices as a result of electronic sourcing, an Organization could be
denied of this valuable impact if e-procurement is not exploited and used to its full
potential.
It is therefore recommended that whilst Newmont Ghana Gold Limited should continue to
use e-procurement as it will continue to positively impact transparency, communication,
efficiency, compliance and record keeping, Buyers should be encouraged to use the
reverse auction application tools available to realize the impact of cost saving through
reduction in price as was anticipated by the Company
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Building Technology, Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science And Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree Of Master of Science (MSc) in Procurement Management,