Barriers to the adoption of electronic tendering in construction procurement in Ghana
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Date
2021-05-18
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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 e-tendering 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.
Keywords
Electronic Tendering, ICT infrastructure, Drivers and Barriers to the Adoption of E-Tendering, Critical success factors