AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ADOPTION OF E-PROCUREMENT APPLICATION SYSTEMS ON SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENT IN KENYA: A CASE OF ZAIN KENYA LIMITED
Solomon Kyalo Mutangili - Master of Science (Procurement), University of Glamorgan, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT
Pushmaun and Alt (2005) described evaluation of e-procurement as major part of supply chain management, supply chains are traditionally supported by information technology with the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) systems in the 1980’s Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) connections with supplies were established. Pearcy and Guilrupero (2008) defined e-procurement as a technology solution that facilitates corporate buying using the internet, is a business to business purchasing practice that utilizes electronic commerce to identify potential sources of supply, to purchase goods and services, to transfer payment and interact with suppliers. E-procurement is part of a broader concept called Information Technology (IT) which is American Heritage. It is also the development, installation of computer system and applications. Palmer,Gupla and Davila (2002) argued that online procurement (e-procurement) has been identified as the most important element of e-business operational excellence for large corporations. Joyce (2006) described the procurement function in business organization as increasingly important. Among the reasons are: increased levels of outsourcing, increased use of internet or e-procurement, great emphasizes on supply chain management, globalization and continuing efforts to reduce costs and increase quality. This paper seeks to find out the factors that have contributed to adoption of e-procurement in supply chain management, the kinds of e-procurement services that have been adopted, impact of e-procurement, the challenges the organization are facing in adoption of e-procurement by Zain Kenya limited. The paper consequently undertook an inductive research in the form of a case study focusing on Zain Kenya Limited and the adoption of e-procurement application systems in its supply chain management in Kenya. The study utilized questionnaires to collect the necessary quantitative and qualitative data from the respondents for analysis using both qualitative and quantitative statistical methods. The study’s population consisted of a total of forty (40) respondents drawn from the organization’s senior management and procurement department. Twenty (20) respondents were from senior management while the other twenty (20) respondents were from the procurement department of Zain Kenya Limited. The research findings illustrated that Zain Kenya has adopted various e-procurement application systems including the use of procurement card; payment by e-invoicing; e- procurement system; electronic cataloguing; and electronic auctioning. It was also observed that the search for information was the main reason for adoption of e- procurement application systems at the company. Consequently, e-procurement application systems have increased the management’s information and analysis capabilities. The findings also showed that e-procurement application systems have increased Zain Kenya’s overall performance. In addition, the researcher generalized that Zain Kenya has adopted e-procurement application systems in most of its departments and the adoption of the new ideas has enhanced the overall performance of the organization. The paper further outlines various conclusions and recommendations in relation to the studies research questions.
