Effect of Procurement Process on Procurement Performance in Education Sector NG-CDF Funded Projects in Kisii County, Kenya: The Moderating Effect of Management Capabilities

Abstract

Procurement performance as a consequence of procurement process has largely been on blame for the cost and time overruns and poor quality of projects for public projects especially education sector NG-CDF projects. This study mainly sought to determine the moderating role of management capabilities on the effect of procurement process on procurement performance of NG-CDF funded projects in education sector in Kisii County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were: To determine the effect of procurement planning, procurement method, supplier selection and contract management on procurement performance in education sector NG-CDF funded construction projects in Kisii County, Kenya; and To determine the moderating role of management capabilities on the effect of procurement process on procurement performance in education sector NG-CDF funded projects in Kisii County, Kenya. The study was anchored on the Theory of Constraints supported by institutional Theory and Resource Based View Theory. The study adopted positivism research paradigm and descriptive survey research design. The study target population was 2333 NG-CDF funded projects in Kisii county constituencies. The study had a sample size of 428 (inclusive of 20% non-response rate) respondents from a target population of 2333 involved in the projects funded in Kisii County constituencies by NG-CDF in education sector between 2013 and 2021. The study stratified the county into 9 constituencies and applied random sampling to arrive at the specific respondents of principals/head teacher, BOM chairs and contractors while a census was done on NG-CDF managers. Quantitative data was collected using structured questionnaire. A pilot test was conducted in the neighboring Nyamira County using 10% of the sample size. Reliability was tested using Cronbach alpha index at 0.7 while construct validity was ensured by Pearson correlation coefficient. Quantitative data was coded and entered into SPSS version 22 for analysis to generate descriptive statistics (mean and frequency percentages) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, simple linear regression, multiple linear regression and hierarchical regression model) and presented in form of frequency tables, charts. The study found out that procurement planning, procurement method, supplier selection and contract management accounts for 17.6%, 20.1%, 12.7% and 11.7% of procurement performance respectively while procurement process compositely accounts for 28.3% of procurement performance. Further, there was small and significant moderating influence of management capabilities on the effect of procurement processes (PPS) on procurement performance (PP) with an overall variation of 34.5%. From the results, management capabilities have an impact of 6.2% (34.5-28.3). Thus, management capabilities significantly moderated the effect of procurement processes (PPS) on procurement performance (PP). From the findings the study concludes that procurement process as characterized by procurement planning, procurement method, supplier selection and contract management significantly and positively correlates with procurement performance. The effect is further improved by the moderator – management capabilities. The study recommends to policy makers and implementers to streamline procurement process on the aspects of procurement planning, procurement method, supplier selection and contract management as well as capacitating the personnel involved in the design; implementation and monitoring of NG-CDF projects in the education sector in order to further improve the procurement outcomes in these projects.