Despite the great impact that the industrial segment plays in the Kenyan economy it is still faced with challenges. The main objective was to establish the factors affecting procurement performance in manufacturing firms in Kenya, a case of Nzoia sugar company Ltd. The study sought to establish whether all the four independent variables that include, Managerial style, Information communication technology, employee competency and procurement policy had significance to the procurement performance. The study was conducted using a descriptive research design with a target population of 526 respondents, which translated to a sample size of 220 from Procurement, Finance, Human Resource, General administration and information communication technology departments. The study anchored variables on different theories for which 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was the main instrument of data collection for the study and data collected ‘analyzed using SPSS version 24. Findings indicated Nzoia Sugar Company Ltd lacks a good ICT infrastructure, leans more towards autocratic leadership and hardly adheres to procurement policy. On exploration of prevailing initiatives to address employee competence, it was found out that employee competency was not a priority. The study concluded that managerial style remains central to procurement performance and thus employee involvement is paramount and has direct impact on procurement performance of manufacturing firms. Thus the autocratic leadership style adopted has failed to foster communication and collective participation resulting to poor performance. On addition, procurement policy is crucial for fostering procurement processes of which most of manufacturing firms remain lax on such policies that eventually results in poor procurement performance. Also technical competence of procurement personnel is fundamental for procurement performance therefore there is need to have continued education and development of procurement personnel. The study recommended that there is need to adopt a participatory managerial style that can encourage quick and efficient accomplishment of procurement role and adoption of EDI to streamline the procurement process. In addition, the research recommends that the firm come up with mechanisms that will boost growth and development of employees and enforce compliance of procurement policy.
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In-Text Citation: (Cheptora, Osoro, & Musau, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Cheptora, N. C., Osoro, A., & Musau, E. G. (2018). The Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Procurement Performance in Manufacturing Firms in Kenya. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(9), 605–616.
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