Barriers to the adoption of electronic tendering in construction procurement in Ghana
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Date
2019-11
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KNUST
Abstract
E-tendering is accepted globally as a fast and efficient means of conducting procurement. This
technique has helped to overcome some of the challenges with the traditional paper base method.
The current study sought to explore the barriers to the adoption of electronic tendering in
construction procurement in Ghana. Structured questionnaires were designed and administered to
key professionals involved in construction tendering such as quantity surveyors, project managers,
Architects among others. The data collected was analyzed into descriptive statistics with the aid
of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Software. Relative Importance Index was
also used to analyze some of the data collected. The results revealed that the drivers to electronic
tendering practices are reduction in time to source materials, enhancement of decision making and
market intelligence, improvements in communication, and price reduction in tendering. The
barriers to the adoption of electronic Tendering in Ghana included conservative nature of the
industry, poor ICT infrastructure to support electronic tendering, the rules and regulations that
cover the tendering process are still predominantly paper-based, skepticism about the method, fear
for the possibility of hacking which defeats the principle of sealed bids, concerns of security of
submitted tenders, and lack of agreed standards. The critical success factors also included
availability of reliable ICT Infrastructure, Availability of reliable, affordable and fast Internet
services, availability of skilled personnel to handle e-Procurement tools and processes, knowledge
of the benefits of e-tendering use, High level of computer literacy among construction
stakeholders, Confidentially in e-tendering transaction, security and authentication of e-tendering
process, and top management commitment and support to e-tendering adoption. Based on the
above it was recommended that the industry stakeholders should be flexible and embrace
etendering as it has numerous benefits. Public educations should also be embarked on.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science in Project Management