The readiness of public procurement entities in Ghana for e-procurement: perspective of procurement practitioners in the road sector in Ghana

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Date
NONEMBER, 2014
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Abstract
Successful implementation of the e-procurement system would require massive infrastructural change by government in order to ensure that all procurement practitioners in public procurement entities have access to internet, sensitive and educated on the changes required for a successful implementation. In lieu of these, currently, the country is not ready for e-procurement. However, ongoing activities and money voted by the World Bank to establish e-procurement under e-Ghana’s project indicates that the government is preparing for the implementation of such a system. But are these institutions really ready for the implementation and how successful would be the pilot run? This research identified the drivers and barriers to the successful implementation of e-procurement in public procurement entities in the road sector with the aim to determine their readiness for a successful implementation of e-procurement. In order to achieve the overall aim, the specific objectives of identifying drivers and barriers to the implementation of e-procurement in public procurement entities in the road sector were accomplished. Cast in the quantitative research approach, questionnaire survey was used to elicit the perceptions of respondents on the barriers and benefits of e-procurement. The response data gathered was subjected to analysis using inferential analysis including factor analysis and descriptive statistics. The findings of the study revealed the following factors as the most significant challenges of e-procurement in public procurement entities in Ghana: End-user uptake and training (User involvement, user support/communication, user training); Supplier Adoption (Supplier e-readiness); Lack of e-Procurement Implementation Strategy (documented and executable strategies prior to the deployment); costly technological solutions; and lack of top management support (Management involvement & investment in organizational change). The resolution of these challenges is inevitably critical to the successful implementation of e-procurement in public procurement entities in the road sector in Ghana. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made: Adequate resources must be made available to organizations implementing and those seeking to implement e-procurement; Organizations must have a good IT structure and also provide employees with IT education; and lastly ensure that the service providers are well tooled through the provision of reliable access hubs. Therefore, this study is important to stakeholders and policy makers in the road sector seeking innovative ways to implement e-procurement successfully. Further study is recommended for the impacts of e-procurement on organizational success.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department Building Technology of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Procurement Management.
Keywords
Benefits, Challenges, Ghana, Public Procurement Authority, E-procurement
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