PROCUREMENT PLANNING AND QUALITY OF SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN UGANDA: CASE STUDY OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SPORTS

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

CVI                            :                       Content Validity Index

MoES                          :                       Ministry of Education and Sport

MoFED                       :                       Ministry of Finance and Economic Development

SPSS                           :                       Statistical Package for Social Sciences

PDE                             :                      Procurement and Disposal Entity

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0. Introduction

This study will assess the influence of procurement planning on the quality of service delivery in the Public Sector using Ministry of Education and Sports as a case study. This chapter presents the background to the study, the statement of the problem, the general objective, the specific objectives, the research questions, the hypotheses, the scope of the study, the significance of the study and operational definitions of terms and concepts.

In Uganda, an estimated 30% and 34% of government expenditure takes place at the central and local governments respectively (Agaba and Shipman, 2007). Proper planning for this huge expenditure is therefore an essential element of good procurement in local government system of the country. Procurement planning is one of the primary functions of procurement with a potential to contribute to the success of government operations and improved service delivery. It is a function that sets in motion the entire acquisition /procurement process. The contribution of planning in facilitating an efficient and effective performance of public sector organisations is generally undisputed in both developed and developing countries. Its contribution can be at both central and local government levels of public sector management (Basheka,2008).

The procurement planning stage in the cycle sets the standard to all stages and if not well managed will constrain quality of service delivery in the public sector (Thai, 2004; Lyson, 2006; Agaba and Shipman, 2007).  This study examined the relationship between procurement planning and the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports (here after MoES).

1.1. Background to the study

1.1.1. Historical background

Globally, and America in particular, purchasing as it was commonly known, was a function that kept to itself and in many organisations was done under the Accounting function. Many companies learnt that by changing the way in which they acquired raw materials, they were reducing costs (Cavinato et al., 2006). This was the beginning of reforms world over in procurement.  Until the late 1990s most African economies had neglected procurement with no specific law to regulate them (Hunja, 2007).  Drive by demand for further control over public spending and more efficient acquisition processes, procurement has become a key public function in the world over (Thai, 2003). Similarly, Kabaj (2003) had equally noted that: “An efficient public procurement system is vital to the advancement of African countries and is a concrete expression of the national commitment to making the best possible use of public resources” (pg.…) each time you use direct quotes, please indicate the page no (s) as well..

Commensurate to the above, a significant number of African countries have over the years adopted measures aimed at decentralisation of government, together with development planning and administration and this fashion became popular in the 1980s (Livingstone and Charlton,2001). By the late 1990s the failure of the existing procurement systems to cope with the expansion in government procurement requirements and to deliver value for money had become generally accepted among government and donor partners (Agaba and Shipman, 2007).

Procurement in developing countries accounts for a high proportion of the total expenditure; for instance, 40% in Malawi and 70% in Uganda. This is comparable to the global average of 12% to 20% (Development Assistance Committee, 2005). Quality of service delivery synonymous with service quality in the public sector has taken centre stage in both developed and developing countries as internal and external customers demand the public procurement function to deliver goods, services and works in the right quantities, right qualities, right price, at the right time and in the right place for value adding (Thai, 2004). The aspirations of quality of service are enshrined in a well-managed public procurement management cycle encompassing procurement planning, supplier solicitation and contract management (Thai, 2004; OECD, 2005).

Many African countries embraced procurement as a financial management tool and as a result many have come up with a regulatory framework in which public procurement is being carried out (Procurement News, 2008). South Africa came up with the Institute of Purchasing and supply Authority (IPSA) to champion the cause for procurement professionalism as a reform to public procurement. Kenya came up with the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) to oversee the implementation of the procurement reform.

Prior to the inception of the reform programme in Uganda in 1998, Procurement was centralized with contracts above the threshold of 2,000,000 shillings being awarded by Central Tender Board (here after CTB) in Ministry of Finance. While CTB arrangements offered the advantages of consolidated purchasing and central control, the CTB was unable to keep pace with the expansion of government activities and their attendant procurement requirements processes became protracted. At this point it was identified by Donors that public procurement was a key obstacle to effective service delivery and development yet public procurements were not planned (Agaba, and Shipman, 2007). One of the reasons was that procurements were not planned.

Through a task force, the Public Procurement Reform was formed and commenced operations in 1998. The task force came up with a number of recommendations, among which the government  was to replace the CTB with Contracts committees, create a national regulatory body for procurement, and above all create a legal framework through which procurement would be done. All this resulted into the enactment of the PPDA Act, 2003 which was set up to cover both central and local governments though only central government procurement was under the PPDA Act of 2003 but later during February 2006 the Local Government Act, Cap 243 Section 91-94 were amended to harmonize the local government procurement institutional arrangement, regulations and procedures with those of the PPDA Act, 2003. In the PPDA Act (2003) it is there in stated that procurement plan must be integrated in the annual sector expenditure programme enhance financial predictability (Reg 62(2)). So clearly the Act emphasizes planning of all procurement activities which planning must be thoroughly done to achieve good quality service delivery but despite the continued emphasis on public procurement planning, many government ministries and local governments are non-compliant to procurement regulatory provisions (The PPDA National Audit reports, 2008).

1.1.3. Conceptual Background

Therefore, to secure such goods and services at competitive prices requires accurate planning and involvement of a number of stakeholders (Basheka, 2008).

Procurement planning involves the transformation of organisation’s mission goals and objectives into measurable activities to be used to plan, budget and manage the procurement function within the organisation. Procurement planning occurs across functional units and activities by extending the value chain / supply chain management concepts to include procurement strategies that encompass the estimation of the budget resources and anticipated expenditures and requirements determination. Procurement planning involves the development of specifications based on identified needs or requirements, formulation and consolidation of acquisition budget and the development of preferred supplier selection and engagements in the entity (Thai, 2004).  In a purchasing context, a specification can be defined as a statement of needs. It defines what the purchaser wants to buy and, consequently, what the supplier is required to provide. Specifications can be simple or complex depending on the need. The success of the purchasing activity relies on the specification being a true and accurate statement of the buyer’s requirements. Apart from being a means of identifying the goods or services required, a specification will form part of any future contract that might result from offers received in terms of functional, performance and technical specifications (Thai, 2004; Lyson, 2006). Similarly, Beil (2009) highlights that planned decisions of supplier selection during supplier selection involves identifying and developing existing suppliers but also discovering new suppliers through procurement research. Thus, supplier selection in procurement planning involves the buyer making prior decisions on identification, evaluation, and contracts with suppliers (Thai, 2004).

Similarly, Lyson (2006) contends that procurement planning is commonly completed during the budgeting process where each year, departments are required to request budget for staff, expenses, and purchases. Thai (2004) highlights that the budgets for all the departments are then reviewed, and in an organisation that is committed to procurement planning, the accountants spend the time to find common purchasing requirements. Based on the budgets submitted, they may direct departments to work with central purchasing to combine their planned spending for specific commodities. Issues surrounding delivery dates, contract compliance, and customer service issues must be resolved internally and tied to budgets before going out to contract.

Quality of service delivery synonymous with service quality according to Parasuraman et al. (1985) has an aspect of tangibles which refers to the physical evidence of the service such as appearance of physical facilities, tools and equipment used to provide the service, appearance of personnel and communication materials, other customers in the service facility. It also includes an aspect of reliability which may include the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. As such reliability extends to aspects of the service being performed right at the first time, the organisation keeps its promises in accuracy, in keeping records correctly and in performing the services at the designated time. It also extends to responsiveness which is the willingness and/or readiness of employees to help customers and to provide prompt service and timeliness of service (Parasuraman et al., 1985).

In this study, procurement planning and its dimensions of specifications, supplier selection decisions, and procurement budgets were the independent variable while quality of service delivery under the indicators of tangibility, reliability and responsiveness was the dependent variable.

1.1.4. Contextual Background

A review of the procurement file for the printing of P4 and P5 teaching and learning materials by the Auditor General’s office during 2009/2010 revealed the following among many other anomalies; the requisition claimed that there were 17,000 primary schools in the country which was contrary to 12,313 schools in the database for 2009 from the Statistics department, an addendum that substantially changed the original requisition was placed in the media on 16^th October 2009 implying that the advert and bidding period totalling 26 days was not adhered to as planned and mandated by law, M/s New Vision and M/s Picfare had made partial deliveries by 10^th February 2010 as per the contract manager however this was before entering contract with the ministry which was done on 22^nd February 2010, PP Form 20 was raised after award of contract, the contract was awarded before availability of all specifications to the bidders (OAG Report,2009/2010). The above anomalies noted by the Auditor General maybe due to loop holes in the needs identification and their consequent specification and supplier selection plans in the MoES leading to constrained service quality for the intended users.

Similarly, a procurement audit on seed schools revealed that although specifications were made, there was a tendency of not only contractors deviating from the specification leading to poor quality works and collapsing buildings but issues of failure to pay contractors on time were found leading to some contractors abandoning the construction projects.  For example, the audit team found out that the building materials used during the construction such as sand and bricks were sub-standard and that was why some walls were vividly weak and shaky when pressure was exerted by the audit team. Instances of collecting sand from roads and poorly burnt bricks were common, for example, at Rwemikoma S.S in Kiruhura District, sand was got from the road instead of ferrying it from Nyihanga or Buremba sand pits. Similarly, the PPDA further learnt from the Districts that a two-classroom Seed Schools’ block built by the Ministry was costed between 70m/= and 90m/=. According to the Districts, the SFG-funded two classroom blocks costed 38m/= almost twice the value. The 38m/= figure was inclusive of furniture.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Since the 1970s, there has been a growing albeit sporadic interest in strategic approaches like procurement planning to the procurement process with an emphasis on the scope of pro-activity (Goh, Lau and Neo, 1999). This pro-activity obviously is about planning in advance of procurement activities to avoid reactionary measures like emergencies in procurement. In Uganda, through a Task Force the Public Procurement Reform was formed and commenced operations in 1998. The task force came up with a number of recommendations, among which the government to was to replace the CTB with Contracts committees, create a national regulatory body for procurement, and above all create a legal framework through which procurement would be done. All this resulted into the enactment of the PPDA Act, 2003 which was set up to cover both central and local governments though only central government procurement was under the PPDA Act of 2003 but later during February 2006 the Local Government Act, Cap 243 Section 91-94 were amended to harmonize the local government procurement institutional arrangement, regulations and procedures with those of the PPDA Act, 2003.

In the PPDA Act (2003) it is stated that procurement plan must be integrated in the annual sector expenditure programme to enhance financial predictability (Reg 62(2)). Reg 62(3) states that a procurement unit shall use the combined work-plan to plan, forecast and schedule Procurement and Disposal Entity’s procurement activities for the financial year. So clearly the Act emphasizes planning of all procurement activities which planning must be thoroughly done to achieve good quality service delivery but despite the continued emphasis on public procurement planning, many government ministries and local governments are non-compliant to procurement regulatory provisions (The PPDA National Audit reports, 2008).

The above regulations show that through the PPDA Act, 2003, government has put a lot of emphasis on procurement planning. Despite all this effort by government, the quality of service delivery by the MoES is still questioned as highlighted by the Auditor General’s and PPDA 2009 Audit reports. This state of affairs if not checked, will persist and lead to loss of tax payers’ money and un realisation of value for money.

Procurements worth only Ug.shs. 955,079,846 were implemented according to planned money value representing 65% of the total value of procurements for the entity in FY 10/11. Procurements worth only Ug.shs. 161,628,897 were completed on time in FY 10/11 representing 11% of the total number of procurements for the entity. This was a low performance as compared to FY 09/10 in which 42% of the value of procurements undertaken were completed on time (Procurement Performance Measurement System Report for FY 2010/2011). This state of affairs if not checked could persistently lead to loss of tax payers’ money and failure to realize value for money. It was necessary that an investigation on the relationship between procurement planning and quality of service delivery is carried out to highlight the influence of procurement planning on quality of service delivery and development of recommendations for improvement of procurement planning for quality service delivery in the public sector of Uganda.

1.3. Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of procurement planning on the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda.

1.4. Objectives of the Study

 The study will be guided by the following objectives:

1.  To assess the influence of specification of requirements on the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda.
2. To assess the influence of supplier selection on the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda.
3. To assess the influence of procurement budgeting on the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda.

1.5. Research Questions

The following questions will be posed by the study:

1. To what extent does specification of requirements influence the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda?
2. To what extent does supplier selection influence the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda?
3. To what extent does procurement budgeting influence the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda?

1.6. Study hypotheses

               The following hypotheses will be tested:

1. Specification of requirements significantly influences the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda.
2. Supplier selection significantly influences the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda.
3. Procurement budgeting significantly influences the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda.

1.7. Figure 1: Conceptual Frame –Work

 PROCUREMENT PLANNING (IV)

                                                                                                                                                       Figure 1. Showing the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

Source: Adopted with modifications from the PPDA Model and service quality model by Parasuraman et al., (1985).     

1.8. Significance of the study

The study findings will be useful in the following ways:

To the PPDA Authority, the study offers empirical evidence on the extent to which PDEs have complied with the procurement planning regulations and requirements which could be used to strengthen the procurement policy advisory role under its mandate.

To the academia, the study adds on new knowledge on procurement planning and quality of service delivery in the public sector of a developing country.

1.9. Scope of the study

Content scope

The study will concentrate on procurement planning aspects of specifications, supplier selection and procurement budgets executions as the independent variables influencing quality of service under the indicators of tangibility, responsiveness and reliability.

Geographical scope

The study will be conducted in the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda located at Embassy House, King George VI Street in Kampala City.

Time scope

The study will cover the period from march 2020-december 2020 the time when the MoES was implementing its five-year strategic plan which relied highly on procurement planning setting a precedent for bid management and contract management.

1.10. Operational definitions of key terms and concepts

Procurement planning in this study refers to the development of specifications, supplier selection and engagement plans, and procurement budgets execution by the public entity.

Quality in this study refers to the tangible, responsiveness and reliability of the services offered by the public entity.

User department: Is the department or section within the public sector organisationthat initiates a purchase

Responsiveness:  How fast suppliers react or take action when contacted by the entity

Public procurement: The process of bringing goods and services to the public sector organisationthrough a systematic process which allows competition.

Entity: in this study refers to a public sector organisationinvolved in procurement.

Service delivery: Fulfilling the public’s needs in terms of bringing closer desires of      society.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.0. Introduction

This chapter presents a review of related literature on procurement planning and quality of service delivery in relation to the study objectives based on what other academicians and practitioners have observed. The first section presents the study findings on specifications and quality of service. This is followed by a review of related literature on supplier selection and quality of service delivery, procurement budgets and quality of service.

2.1. Specifications and quality of service

A specification can be described as what the purchaser wants to buy and, consequently, what the supplier is required to provide and specifications can be simple or complex depending on the need. The success of the purchasing activity relies on the specification being a true and accurate statement of the buyer’s requirements. Apart from being a means of identifying the goods or services required, functional, performance and technical specification tend to form part of any future contract that might result from offers received (Thai, 2004; Lyson, 2006).

Functional specifications are defined as the function, duty or role of the goods or services. It nominates what the goods or services are broadly required to do and define the task or desired result by focusing on what is to be achieved rather than how it is to be done. They do not describe the method of achieving the intended result but enables suppliers to provide solutions to defined problems (Thai, 2004; Lyson, 2006).

On the other hand, performance specifications are specifications that define the purpose of the goods or services in terms of how effectively it will perform, that is, in capability or performance terms. Performance specifications define the task or desired result by focusing on what is to be achieved. They do not describe the method of achieving the desired result but enables suppliers to provide solutions to defined problems (Thai, 2004; Lyson, 2006). Furthermore, technical specifications on the other hand define the technical and physical characteristics and/or measurements of a product, such as physical aspects (for example, dimensions, colour, surface finish), design details, material properties, energy requirements, processes, maintenance requirements and operational requirements. They are used when functional and performance characteristics are insufficient to define the requirement (Thai, 2004; Lyson, 2006). All three types may be combined to form the one specification. While Government generally encourages the use of performance and functional specifications rather than technical specifications, certain requirements may not be adequately defined in these terms alone. Technical characteristics may be needed to define some requirements more clearly (Thai, 2004; Lyson, 2006).

Lam (2011) contends that in the construction sector whilst drawings show the design of a construction project in graphical form, specifications depict the quality of materials and workmanship, in addition to other general requirements in text mode. The importance of sustainability in construction has prompted specifiers to make specifications a contractual tool in achieving green quality targets of construction clients. Lam (1b: d) further noted that most developed economies have adopted different specification systems for their construction works; hence, different approaches are being used in incorporating green requirements in their specifications to achieve the desired service quality in relation to green supply.

The inseparability of production and consumption of services implies that the buying company is both consumer and co-producer and cannot store services (Gro¨nroos, 2007; Ellram et al., 2007). This makes a clear specification of the service before the purchase more crucial but also complex and highlights how closely connected the selection of a service provider is to the post-purchase quality evaluation (Lindberg and Nordin, 2008). Finally, services are delivered in interactions between human representatives of the service provider and buying company and thus difficult to produce with consistent characteristics and quality (van der Valk and Rozemeijer, 2009). This again complicates to standardize, count, and value them (Lindberg and Nordin, 2008) and requires an assessment of the interaction process by various stakeholders (Axelsson and Wynstra, 2002). Taken together the peculiarities of services imply that they entail greater performance ambiguity (Bowen and Jones, 1986) which a quality management for externally sourced business services should take account of.

Smeltzer and Ogden (2002) found out that the process activity which is seen as most complex in purchasing of services is the definition of service specifications.  Similar results are reported by Ellram et al. (2007) who points out that service quality and performance are not as easy to measure and specify objectively as product quality.  In sum, the literature on purchasing of services suggests that perceived risk, degree of specification and usage of the service by the buying company may influence the purchasing process and thus the quality of the services. By almost every measure manufacturing quality has improved tremendously in the past decade; unfortunately, the same is not true for service (Harris and Harrington, 2000). Yet, service operations compromise more than 80 per cent of the GDP in the USA, and are growing rapidly around the world (Antony et al., 2007). Clearly, the opportunity area for the twenty-first century is in the understanding and improvement of the service processes that drive value and customer experience (Harris and Harrington, 2000).

2.2. Supplier selection and quality of service delivery

Beil (2009); Roodhooft and Van den Abbeele (2006) highlighted that planed decisions of supplier selection during supplier selection involves identifying and developing existing suppliers but also to discovering new suppliers through procurement research. Thus, supplier selection in procurement planning involves the buyer making prior decisions on identification, evaluation, and contracts with suppliers (Thai, 2004).  Beil (2009) further noted that to survive in the intensely competitive global economy, it is often critically important to not only develop existing suppliers but also to discover new suppliers as new supplier may have developed a novel production technology or streamlined process which allows it to significantly reduce its production costs relative to predominate production technology or processes that lead to the achievement of the desired quality from the supplier. Hackett et al. (2006) hints that supplier selection as such involves the purchasing entity in the process by which the buyer identifies, evaluates, and contracts with suppliers and the buyers and their internal customers may be obliged by organisational policy to locate a minimum number of viable, potential suppliers for every product or service procured in their procurement plans.

Increasingly, many end product producers are recognizing the potential benefits of partnering with their suppliers in managing quality in their supply chains (Choi and Rungtusanatham, 1999). To this effect, Ellram et al., (2004) recommends that supplier relationship management such as supplier identification, supplier selection, supplier segmentation, relationship management, service delivery management, making promises to customers, enabling service providers, flow of payments between parties, demand management such as forecasting customer requirements need to be envisaged and well managed in the entity’s purchasing plans.

Many authors assume a positive relationship between higher levels of purchasing involvement in the procurement process for services and performance of the buying company. For example, higher involvement of a firm’s purchasing department can add value by ensuring that funds are spent properly by saving time (either by reducing the time invested by the client department during the purchasing process or time which is lost when the service purchase fails and money such as reducing acquisition costs, but also by improving the quality of the good or service purchased arise from choice of competent suppliers (Bals and Hartmann, 2007; Gonza´lez-Benito, 2007; Lonsdale and Watson, 2005; Schiele and McCue, 2006).  Furthermore, purchasing can contribute to a company’s level of innovativeness (Krause et al., 2001) and access to supplier markets (Walter et al., 2001). Similarly, value is created by satisfied, loyal, and productive employees. Employee satisfaction, in turn, results primarily from high-quality support services and policies that enable employees to deliver results to customers (Heskett et al., 2008, p. 120).  To achieve the desired quality of service, competitive tendering should be encouraged (Tikkanen and Kaleva, 2011 Kuusniemi-Laine and Takala, 2008); moreover, the evaluation criteria need to be transparent (Eskola and Ruohoniemi, 2007, p. 241) yet threshold values equally determine the choice of supplier to be selected in the procurement plans (Hilma, 2009).

In conclusion, Matechak (2010) observed that in many cases, government entities seek private sector providers in order to secure better quality goods and services at a lower overall cost that is to obtain better value for money. At the same time, government entities are looking to streamline the procurement process in order to shorten delivery and performance times as well as reduce administrative costs. However, these objectives cannot generally be met unless contracts are awarded on a truly competitive basis under a system that has clear guidelines incorporating transparency, efficiency, economy, accountability and fairness into the public procurement system as a whole. Corruption opportunities also abound at the contract planning, award and performance phase of the procurement process.

2.3. Budgeting execution and quality of service delivery

Procurement planning is commonly completed during the budgeting process. Each year, departments are required to request budgets for staff, expenses, and purchases. This is the first step in the procurement planning process. The budgets for all the departments are then reviewed, and in an organisationthat is committed to procurement planning, the accountants spend the time to find common purchasing requirements. Based on the budgets submitted, they may direct departments to work with central purchasing to combine their planned spending for specific commodities. This process works best in an organisationthat is committed to reducing costs. Issues surrounding delivery dates, contract compliance, and customer service issues must be resolved internally before going out to contract (Thai, 2004, Lyson, 2006).

One of the first and most interesting areas of behavioural accounting research has been the analysis of budget targets. Budget targets quantify management’s expectations of selected financial and nonfinancial elements such as future income, financial position, units manufactured, head count, materials, and number of new products introduced (Bhimani et al., 2008, p. 467). Since the studies by Argyris (1953), a substantial body of literature has examined the methods for setting budget targets; the level of difficulty in achieving budget targets; the role of budget targets in evaluating and rewarding employee performance; and the effects of budget targets on employee motivation and employee and organizational performance (Covaleski et al., 2007, p. 7). Some studies have proposed that the purposes of budgets may be interpreted differently not only across organisations but also across organizational levels (Lukka, 1988a, b; Ihantola, 2006) and by accountants and managers (Emmanuel et al., 1991, pp. 161-2). While contradictory purposes of budgets and ultimately budget targets have been identified as challenges that could potentially hinder the functioning of budgeting (Hopwood, 1974, p. 473), empirical research on how managers in the field actually interpret such accounting information is scarce.

Kihn (2011) observed that several purposes have traditionally been identified for budgets and ultimately for budget targets. Budget targets can be understood as financial plans, forecasts or estimates of expected future outcomes that the management team has agreed on. They can be used to communicate to employees what is expected of them to coordinate activities across different parts of the organisationand over time. Budget targets show how resources are allocated within an organization, and they may serve as a formal authorization to a manager to spend a given amount of funds on specific activities. Budget targets can be set to motivate good performance, since people are sensitive to large goal-performance discrepancies and are motivated to decrease these by improving their performance (Bhimani et al., 2008, pp. 467-72; Emmanuel et al., 1991, pp. 162-82). In addition to the above-mentioned more traditional purposes, budgets can be used to communicate and implement the first year of a strategic plan (Goold and Campbell, 1987; Mintzberg, 1983; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2006; Bhimani et al., 2008). These purposes of budgets and targets are related to ex ante use of information (Lukka, 1988b, p. 13; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2006). Alternatively, budget targets can be turned into responsibilities and commitments, standards and benchmarks against which actual results can be compared for unit and managerial performance evaluation and reward. Such monitoring and control of target achievement reflects ex post use of information (Lukka, 1988b, p. 13; Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann, 2006).

Given the many purposes of budgets, managers should:  select those purposes for which reliable budgetary information is essential and to protect the system against those influences that tend to subvert its effectiveness in those chosen areas (Emmanuel et al., 1991, p. 164). The main purposes of budgets have received ample attention from scholars. For example, Mintzberg (1983) has identified two different types of budgeting systems based on whether the focus is on planning activities or on evaluating overall performance. Lukka (1988b, p. 13) has distinguished planning and goal setting versus evaluation of investments and managers as the main purposes of budgets. Rather similarly, Naranjo-Gil and Hartmann (2006) distinguish between resource allocation (planning and coordination) and performance evaluations (monitoring and controlling).

every financial year, to cover the full cumulative cost of call off orders anticipated for each year for a framework contract.

In practice, procurement authorization and appropriations are integral parts of a public procurement system and determine procurement success. In many countries, construction projects face delays due to insufficient funds. For example, in Vietnam, Hanoi’s new airport where construction began in 1995, was officially opened for business in October, 2001 after more than four years of delays. The sleek three-story, red-roofed terminal was supposed to be finished by late 1997, in time for a Francophone summit. The opening was delayed by redesigns and funding shortages (Associated Press, 2001). Actually, procurement professionals can provide policy makers with valuable information in the pre-procurement cycle phases, including needs assessment, and procurement program authorization and appropriations (Office of Management and Budget, 1997).

Procurement Budget short falls are usually experienced in the delivery of public services. For example, the WHO (2000) noted that Africa has the lowest per capita health spending in the world, ranging from less than US$20 in the poorest countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia to US$50 in affluent ones like South Africa and Botswana. Inadequate funding poses a challenge to the health-related objective of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seeks to offer universal access to quality health services by 2015 in developing countries. In Ghana, the sources of finance available to public healthcare institutions have reduced and this budgetary constraint is affecting the capacity of public hospitals to provide quality healthcare. It is argued that the expectations of quality care, efficiency, responsive service, ready access, fairness, and provider morale are essential in healthcare institutions, given that health service activities contribute to the socio-economic development of the country (Quigley and Scott, 2004; Abor et al., 2008). The main sources of funding, including internally-generated funds, government and donor-pooled funds are insufficient compared to the expenditure budgets of these hospitals. This financing gap has resulted in the suspension of some important health programs leading to inadequate service delivery n most developing countries (World Bank, 2009).

In a concluding remark, this study highlights Matechak (2011) observation that budgets could be set artificially high so that excess allocations can be stolen or diverted. In addition, programmatic budgets could be devised in such a way that there are overlapping budgetary allocations among separate organisations or departments that could likewise be applied in a corrupt manner. In determining the requirement, reports could be prepared that falsely justify current or future departmental needs, falsely inflate actual needs or falsely report damaged equipment in order to create an excess supply that could be used for corrupt purposes. However, it should be noted that much as government entities plan and get budgets approved, they tend to operate outside the budgets causing skeptism on the need of planning.

2.4. Summary of literature review

The literature above has provided a comprehensive review of procurement planning dimensions of specifications, supplier selection and budget execution and their linkage to quality of service delivery. The literature did not however provide empirical evidence on the extent to which procurement planning practices of development of specifications, supplier selection and budget executions have influenced the tangibility, responsiveness and reliability aspects of service quality. This study therefore strived to cover this literature gap by providing empirical evidence on the influence of procurement planning dimensions of requirements specifications, supplier selection and budget execution on the quality of service in the public sector of Uganda.

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0. Introduction

This chapter presents the study design, population of study, sample size and selection, sampling technique and procedure, data collection methods and instruments, reliability and validity of the study instruments, data collection procedure and analysis.

3.1. Research design

The study will use a case study design where both quantitative and qualitative approaches will be adopted in this study of procurement planning and quality of service delivery in the public sector. Yin (1994) argues that case study research strategies are appropriate for the investigation an in-depth analysis into the phenomenon especially when the concern is to study contemporary issues over which the researcher has no control. The quantitative approach will be used to quantify findings on the study variables using frequencies, mean, standard deviation, correlation and regression while the qualitative approach will be used to draw explanation of the study findings on the variables and their relationships.

3.2. Population of Study

The study will be carried out on population of 89 subjects in the MoES consisting of accounting officer, contracts’ committee, user department heads, head of units and sections, and procurement and disposal unit staff. This population will be considered based on the relevant experiences they possess in public planning practices and quality of service delivery in the Ministry in their different managerial positions.

3.3. Sample size and selection

The sample size is estimated to be 73 respondents (see appendix III) based on Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sampling guidelines. Table 3.1 below shows the summary of the sample size of the respondents and the sampling techniques and instrument to be used in the study.

Table 3.1: Sample size of the respondents

Source: MoES Staff payroll as of November, 2018

3.4. Sampling techniques and procedures

The study will use simple random sampling and Census sampling. In using simple random sampling, the study will use lottery approach where names are written on a tag and put in a basket of which one tag is picked until the required number is reached (Amin, 2005). Purposive sampling will be used to select the accounting officer, contracts’ committee, user department heads and PDU staff who are most knowledgeable and experienced in procurement planning and quality of service in the Ministry.

3.5. Data Collection Methods

The researcher will ensure that both qualitative and quantitative data is collected. There are different methods of data collection but this study will use the survey method the questionnaire, interviewing and documentary review approaches.

Questionnaire Survey method

The questionnaire will be used basing on the fact that the variables cannot be observed such as views, opinions, perceptions and feelings of the respondents on procurement planning and quality of service delivery aspects of responsiveness and reliability (Amin, 2005). The questionnaire will be used because respondents can read and write the questions, the respondent possess the information to answer the questions or items and are willing to answer the questions honestly and it is thought to be less expensive for data collection (Amin, 2005). The questionnaire will be administered personally by delivering them to the selected respondents in their offices in the MoES.

Interview method

The interviews will be structured to comprise a set of issues on which the researcher wishes to draw data and the same questions are posed to the respondents using a guide to conduct the interview.

Documentary review method   

Document analysis involves reviewing existing published and unpublished information relating to procurement planning and quality of service delivery. The researcher will use journals, magazines, manuals, reports, the Internet, newspapers and conference proceedings and abstracts related to procurement planning and service delivery.

3.6. Data Collection Instruments

The study will use a questionnaire, interview schedule and document checklist for data collection.

Self-Administered Questionnaire

A uniform self-administered close-ended questionnaire encompassing background information, procurement planning and quality of service delivery will be developed. The choice of the questionnaire is on the basis that the respondents can read and write the questions, the respondent possess the information to answer the questions or items and might be willing to answer the questions honestly. The questionnaires can be used to collect vast amount of data from a large sample in a short time and at a low cost (Amin, 2005).

Interview Guide

Face-to-face discussions on questions posed with the accounting officer, contracts committee, 3 budget officers, head of the PDU will be conducted of which the researcher will record the responses on procurement planning and quality of service delivery in the Ministry.

Documentary review checklist

Document analysis involves reviewing procurement plans and reports coupled with quality of service to gain secondary information on the study variables to complement the primary data.

3.7. Data collection procedure

A cover letter will be obtained from MTAC. In addition, permission to conduct the study will be sought from management of the MoES to authorize the study. Anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents will be observed by not asking the respondents to put their names on the questionnaires. The covering letter from MTAC will be used during the data collection process. The data collected will be edited, coded and later entered into the SPSS for analysis.

3.8. Validity and reliability

Pre-testing will be conducted to establish the reliability and validity of the study instrument. The study questionnaire will be tested on a sample of 15 staff in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

3.8.1. Validity of the study instrument

The validity of the instrument will be tested using the Content Validity Index (CVI) using expert judgment taking only variable scoring above 0.70 accepted for Social Sciences (Amin, 2005).  The CVI will be measured using the formula:

CVI = Number of items declared valid

Total number of items

3.8.2. Reliability of the study instrument

The internal consistence (reliability) of the instrument will be measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient taking only variables with an alpha coefficient value more than 0.70 accepted for social research (Amin, 2005) generated from SPSS.

3.9. Measurement of variables

The variables will be measured by operationally defining procurement planning and quality of service delivery. These channelled into observable and measureable elements to enable the development of an index of the concept using a five- Likert scale namely:5-Strongly agree; 4- Agree; 3- Not sure; 2- Disagree; 1- Strongly disagree will be used to measure both the independent and dependent variables.

3.10. Data analysis

3.10.1. Quantitative Analysis

Quantitative data will be analysed using frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations, correlation analysis to show the relationships. On the other hand, regression analysis will be used to show the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable. Pearson’s correlation coefficients and significance will be used to identify the significance levels to test the hypotheses at the 99 and 95 confidence levels in the correlation analysis. The adjusted R², t values, beta, and significance values will be used to measure the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable in the regression analysis.

3.10.2. Qualitative Analysis

Qualitative data analysis will involve identification and transcription of the qualitative findings into themes. The themes on each of the variables will be used then coded, sorted and aligned to the research objectives from which lessons learnt on procurement planning and quality of service attributes will be deduced for reporting in a narrative form.

3.11. Measurement of variables

The variables will be measured by operationally defining procurement planning and quality of service delivery. These will then be channelled into observable and measureable elements to enable the development of an index of the concept using a five- Likert scale namely:5-Strongly agree; 4- Agree; 3- Not sure; 2- Disagree; 1- Strongly disagree will be used to measure both the independent and dependent variables.

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APPENDICES

Appendix I: Questionnaire

Dear Respondent,

I am Julius Munizero a student of MTAC conducting a research on Public Procurement Planning and quality of service delivery in the public sector of Uganda. You have been selected purposively and randomly among different User Department, Contracts Committee, heads of units and sections and PDU to provide the study with the required information in this questionnaire provided.

The information provided will be treated with outmost confidentiality so please feel free and answer diligently. Please return the fully filled questionnaire immediately to the Head of Procurement and Disposal Unit within one week’s time.

SECTION A: BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1. Gender [] Female [] Male

• Your position in relation to procurement: Contracts’ Committee [] Head of the User Department [] Head of unit [] Procurement and Disposal Unit [] Head of section [] Others []
• Level of education Diploma [] Degree [] Post Graduate [] Others (specify)……….
• How long have you worked with the MoES (in years) :1-4 [] 5-9 [] 10-14 Yrs. [] 15+ []?

SECTION B: USE OF PROCUREMENT PLANNING

Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following observations on the public procurement planning practices in the MoES. Please use the key below to answer the following questions by circling: (5) for strongly agree (4) for agree, (3) for not sure (2) for disagree (1) for strongly disagree

SECTION C: quality of service delivery    

Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following experiences on the quality of service delivery in the MoES. Please use the key below to answer the following questions by circling: (5) for strongly agree (4) for agree, (3) for not sure (2) for disagree (1) for strongly disagree

Thank you for your participation in this study

Appendix II: Interview schedule

1. To what extent does specification of requirements influence the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda?
2. To what extent does supplier selection influence the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda?
3. To what extent does procurement budget execution influence the quality of service delivery in the Ministry of Education and Sports in Uganda?

Appendix III: Table for determining sample size from a given population

Note:   “N” is population size

“S” is sample size.

Krejcie, Robert V., Morgan, Daryle Determining Sample Size for Research Activities”, Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1970.