Institutional Factors Influencing Performance Of E-procurement In Public Institutions: A Case Of Parastatals Operating In Nairobi Central Business District

Abstract

Given the impact of procurement actions on the operation and usefulness of public sectors in Kenya, it is indispensable that these activities be carried out by competent staff with highly trained and principled standards and using moral procedures anchored in appropriate policies and regulations.The effectiveness of e procurement in many developing countries has not been satisfactory hence it has not been able to deliver its full potential to organizations especially the public sector ones. The objective of this research is to determine institutional factors that influence the performance of e-procurement in Kenya’s public organizations. The study was guided by buyer / supplier integration, the institutions’ current ICT infrastructure and leadership as the independent variables while the performance of e-procurement while performance of e procurement was the dependent variable. The regulatory framework is the moderating variable. The research was conducted using descriptive research design. The population of interest for the study was 80 procurement and Information technology managers for Parastatals operating in Nairobi CBD. Since this was a small population, a census approach was adopted. Data was collected using a semi structured questionnaires. The study employed descriptive and regression analysis to determine the nature of the relationship between institutional factors and e-procurement performance. Concerning the first objective, the study found out that buyer supplier integration has a significant effect on the performance of e procurement. However the effect of both leadership support and current ICT infrastructure were not found to have any significant effect on the performance of e procurement. The study recommends that future research should concentrate on the effect of institutional factors on e- procurement in other sectors.