Effects of Technology Adoption on the Procurement Process at Kenya Maritime Authority Mombasa

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to asses' the impact of technology adoption on procurement process in Kenya Maritime Authority. Organizations today continue to face business related problems like collection of timely reliable and accurate information, processing, storing, and retrieval for decision making and control of the organization. The application of technology on procurement processes will change the way work is performed, the number and skills of contracting personnel, and the procurement organization's structure. Procurement plays a major role in organizations, which can significantly influence a company's success. As a core function it is, however, subjected to the mega trends of the market. Its day to day existence is very much defined by growing procurement volumes due to greater concentration of business on core competences, globalization of procurement markets, growing market dynamics as well as the ever shorter product lifecycle. The specific objective was to examine ICT applications; to establish individual user factors; to examine the information systems. Stratified random sampling method was used. The study targeted all the 225 employees of KMA. The sample size for the study was 68 respondents which represented 30% of all employees working at KMA. A modified Likert scale questionnaire was developed divided into three parts. A pilot study was carried out to refine the instrument. The quality and consistency of the survey was further assessed using Cronbach's alpha. The overall Cronbach's alpha for the four categories which was 0.752. Data analysis was performed on a computer using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 22) for Windows. Analysis was done using frequency counts, percentages, means and standard deviation, regression, correlation and the information generated was presented in form of graphs, charts and tables. Out of the 68 questionnaire issued 50 questionnaires were returned.54% of the respondents were in middle level management; 54% of the respondents have bachelor's degree while 38% have worked for between 6-10 years in KMA. Suppliers have a positive attitude towards technology whereas the study showed that there was a close relationship between suppliers and the organization. ICT application was found to be closely related technology adoption as well as individual user factors and information system. The study concluded that technology adoption was the way to go in as far as procurement was concerned and that paper transactions should be modernized. The study recommended that technology should be adopted in procurement processes to reduce both costs in operations and items and services offered.