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 vi 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
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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,
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