THE EFFECTS OF E-PROCUREMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BIDCO UGANDA LTD

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the background to the study, the statement of the problem, general and specific objective of the study, research questions, scope of the study, significance.

1.1 Background to the Study

With ever-increasing competitive pressures, growing numbers of firms use electronic procurement (e-procurement) in an attempt to reduce costs and increase profitability. Electronic procurement is a concept that describes the process of buying, selling or exchanging products, services and information using computer networks including the internet (Ken, 2003).  The e-procurement revolution is expected to enhance the status and influence of the purchasing function within organizations, E-procurement is more than just a system for making purchases online. Some companies implement e-procurement and succeed while others fail. E-procurement is about taking this process online and automating the whole procedure with the underlying aim centered on saving money. The growth of the internet and commercial web based application are offering trading even increasing operational cost saving to enterprises (Osmonbekov et al, 2002). 

Private and public sector organizations have been utilizing Information Technology (IT) systems to streamline and automate their purchasing and other processes over the past years. It is only in the past decade that e-Procurement systems have attracted attention. While there is debate about how recently e-Procurement has emerged, (Dai & Kauffman, 2001; Koorn, Smith & Mueller, 2001), there is no doubt that the use of e-Procurement provides several advantages over earlier inter-organizational tools. For example, Electronic Data Interchange has been providing automated purchasing transactions between buyers and their suppliers since it was launched in the 1960s. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) followed in the 1970s, and then came the commercial use of the Internet in 1980s. It was only in the 1990s that the World Wide Web the multimedia capability of the Internet – became widely enabled and provided the essential resource for the automation of procurement (Tumwesigye, 2009). 

Croom& Brandon (2004), there are various forms of e-Procurement that concentrate on one or many stages of the procurement process such as e-Tendering, e-Marketplace, e-Auction/Reverse Auction, and e-Catalogue/Purchasing, e-Procurement can be viewed more broadly as an end-to-end solution that integrates and streamlines many procurement processes throughout the organization. Businesses have realized that time and cost savings can be achieved by having a link with major suppliers through private networks such as electronic data interchange (EDI). Many businesses turned to E-procurement systems during the E-commerce  boom to control, simplify, and automate the purchase of goods and services from multiple suppliers. These products let companies aggregate suppliers’ offerings into a single catalog, manage approval processing, and control the transaction process. Businesses today are extending E-procurement beyond controlling the purchase of office supplies and goods for maintenance and repair to reap its benefits in the direct-goods arena  (Alex, 2008).

Most Companies are aware, they must make some type of transition to digital technology to remain competitive though few have the deep understanding to prove the case or make requisite investment (Mafakui, 2015). Many areas of conflict are cited between e-procurement and performance of Bidco Uganda Ltd far as purchasing is concerned, many organizations have embraced E-Procurement without understanding clearly what their expectations are. They have been seen to take it up because all their completers are, and in the end they have embraced high performance of companies. 

Implementing Web-based e-procurement system not only could make the operational processes of the buyer organization more effective but also could make the order fulfillment process of the supplier organization more efficient and improve partner relationship management (Mburu, 2011). 

The adoption of e-procurement by Bidco Uganda Limited has enabled it to procure and distribute it’s resources to various customers in the country and other countries in the most cost-effective manner possible while still ensuring the high quality of its products, service and support. Thus the study seeks to examine the effect of e-procurement on performance of Bidco Uganda Ltd.

1.2 Problem statement

E-procurement has been framed has a means of improving efficiency in organizations. The issues that are put forward as key outcomes of e-procurement are low transaction costs, increasing accessibility and transparency, ensuring an efficient administration of the procurement process, new supplier discovery and paperless environment, increasing competitive sourcing opportunities, and enhancing inter-organizational coordination. As a result, organizations have invested in e-procurement infrastructure of capacity development. Despite of these endeavors, many organizations continue to underperform due to experiences in procurement such as insecurities in e-transactions, cost implications, system insecurity among others which led to low procurement efficiency. Therefore, this study seeks to establish the effects of e-procurement on performance of Bidco Uganda Ltd

1.3 Research Objectives

1.3.1 General Objective

The main objective of this study is to establish the effects of e-procurement on performance of Bidco Uganda Ltd.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

1. To examine the factors hindering e-procurement adoption in organizations.
2. To discuss how organisations are addressing the e-procurement challenges.
3. To investigate the impact of e-procurement adoption on organizational performance.

1.5 Research questions

1. What factors hinder e-procurement adoption in organizations?
2. How do organisations address the e-procurement challenges?
3. What is the impact of e-procurement adoption on organizational performance?

1.6 Scope of the study

1.6.1 Content scope

The study will focus on the effects of e-procurement on performance of Bidco Uganda Ltd. It put main emphasis on the factors that hinder e-procurement adoption in organizations, how organisations address the e-procurement challenges and the impact of e-procurement on organizational performance.

1.6.2 Geographical scope

The research will be carried out at Bidco Uganda Limited.

1.6.3 Time scope

The study will consider 2014-2016 as the period of data to be considered in the organization. The study will be carried out for a period of four months from March to June, 2017 and considering 2010-2016 as the period of body of knowledge to review literature.

1.7 Significance of the statement

It is hoped that the findings will be helpful in the following ways;

The findings of the study will be relevant to the management of Bidco Uganda Limited (strategic and operational plans) in that it will give the milestones towards integrating e-procurement as a strategy for growth and performance. 

The findings of the study will also enable employees of the organization to appreciate their role towards business development, growth and strategic adoption module for the success of the organization. Staff will also be motivated towards improving the services they offer and understand customer’s perception in performance of Bidco Uganda Ltd in efforts to achieve the world class organizational status.

Further researchers will also benefit from the findings of this study since it will provide additional knowledge to the already existing literature on e-procurement. The findings and gaps of this study may act as ground for further research. 

The findings of the study may also serve as a benchmark to other organizations who intend to adopt e-procurement. It will enable them to better understand the effects of e-procurement on performance of Bidco Uganda Ltd.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• Introduction

This chapter reviews the existing literature put forward by different scholars and personalities on the effects of e-pocuement on organizational perfiormance as well as critically analyzing the deviations in the explanations to find out the research gap in the study variables according to the research objectives based on secondary sources like text books, internet, newspaper, report at the company, and journals.

2.1 Factors hindering e-procurement adoption in organizations.

2.1.1 Supplier Enablement 

According to research by Aberdeen group (2007), it was discovered that supplier enablement is one of the top three factors for e-procurement implementation. Suppliers do not fit into organizational plans or may want to do things their way National e-Procurement Project (2004). This may be because organizational processes and systems do not match those used by most of their other customers or because organizational business is insufficient to justify organization’s investment in the system. 

Supplier enablement is becoming a bigger challenge because forcing suppliers to adopt organizational preferred trading method can be problematic, particularly if there are no alternatives readily to hand Filipe(2009). Most suppliers are not E-procurement enabled because they are not ICT compliant. Moreover, complex purchasing cannot be put in place without considerable personal contact between the parties concerned Lysons (2003). 

According to Tan, Felix & Ter (2010), successful e-Procurement system is required to have suppliers willing and able to trade electronically. A study conducted by the AGIMO (2005), showed that supplier adoption is important to the overall success of an e-Procurement program. The study concluded that the more suppliers in the system, the more inclined buyers will be to use it. If suppliers are not correctly involved, then a low adoption rate can constrain users from leveraging the full associated capabilities from e-Procurement solutions. 

The lack of a critical mass of suppliers accessible through the organization’s e-Procurement system might limit the network effects that underlie these technologies, delaying the acceptance and adoption of the solution Paulo (2009).According to a study by Lin, Huang, Jalleh & Tung (2010) about the adoption of e-commerce by the health care organizations in Australia, there were complains about loss of interpersonal relationships with suppliers and customers via the use of e-procurement systems. 

Therefore, those organizations that had fewer problems in adopting and implementing e-procurement systems were those that had better communication with key stakeholders throughout the entire supply chain and had listened to their concerns. Several interview participants also mentioned that having effective supply chain management in their organizations was not good enough. Benefits only would come about if these management processes could be extended to the suppliers. Some participating health care organizations had some difficulties or simply failed to integrate their e-procurement system with other functions throughout the supply chain. 

2.1.2 System Security 

System security is another challenge that hinders the implementation of e-procurement. The perceived challenges are mainly related to technical issues such as lack of information from the technology provider when new versions of the system are launched. Anne, Åsa & Esmail (2008) According to Bell (2001), in 1999, 59% of companies that were interested in adopting e-procurement cited security as the key barrier. 

There are associated risks and challenges in adopting e-procurement, most of which are related to network security issues. There are just so many people outside there that are ever on the prowl, looking for the slightest opportunity to make money from the unwary users of the Web. Sometimes the motive may be to interfere with the business of the competitor, through the Internet. Traditional threats include viruses, worms and Trojans, which can be used to compromise business information confidentiality and integrity, as well affecting the network availability. 

The mode and nature of the threats and attacks are quite dynamic, tending always to target at the vulnerabilities in the most widely used applications. Applications like e-mails, instant messaging, spam, etc, may appear harmless to many organizations but these are being used quite successfully to compromise e-procurement security. Shwan(2006)The traditional protections based on firewalls, VPNs, antivirus software, etc, are not enough. 

Besides the architecture must be designed and implemented in such a manner that it is dynamic in terms of the architecture being both scalable and adoptable. A layered defense approach provides the best protection result in a three-tier scenario. Specific details on security at each tier must take in cognizance the likely attack and threat scenarios. Client-side and server side security details and requirements are similar in some aspects, but there are certain glaring differences in information security requirements. Shwan (2006) 

Also according to Shwan (2006), information stored in the client computer system should be protected to prevent unauthorized access, disclosure, or manipulation of the stored information. This protection needs be both physical and software based. A number of applications are now supporting biometrics as a physical access technology that provides better authentication. Host hardening and the use of secure access controls can greatly enhance client side security. 

Issues of privacy and authenticating the identities of the parties involved in e-commerce transactions are also among foremost societal concerns of businesses and consumers. According to the Washington Post, 90 percent of Web sites fail to comply with basic privacy principles. In monetary terms, Forrester Research showed that, due to consumers’ privacy concerns, e-commerce companies lost some $2.8 billion in the last year Escalante (2003). Lin et al (2010) found that some health care practitioners related challenges of e-procurement to disaster recovery and security. They emphasized the importance of having a backup/alternative e-procurement system and IT disaster recovery and data security contingency plans in case of system failure or other security issues.

2.1.3 Cost Implications 

The inability to justify costs/benefits as an inhibitor for adoption focuses attention to broader considerations relating to benefits management and value creation in systems development in that benefits do not necessarily reside within the IT domain but incorporate changes in wider organizational activities; requiring changes to be identified and planned for and incorporate varying stakeholder expectations and roles. Tiernan & Peppard 2004; Dhillon (2005) 

The challenge is that in a capital-tight environment, cost of acquisition and fielding of e-procurement system can be prohibited software licensing and enterprise findings can run in millions of dollars depending on the size of the organization. According to Australian national survey 2006, there is considerable high cost of acquiring and managing inter-organizational information management systems, other challenges to implementation of e- procurement as with any other new system fielding is push-back from users. 

Both internal users and even vendors can create friction and create the change. For leaders in an organization it is critical to prepare both internal customers and actively communicate with vendors to ensure that they are on- board with the program. In addition electronic procurement is still growing and changing. Hosted solutions are coming up into being referred to as procurement service providers (PSP) that provide externally hosted procurement systems. Williams & Hardy (2006).

2.1.4 Legal Infrastructure 

According to a Seng and Hwee (2003), Legal issues relating to e-procurement could be categorized mainly into Global Trading, Contract Enforceability, Liability Risks, Security Breaches and Intellectual Properties Protection (IPR)

According to Eadie, Perera, Heaney & Carlisle (2007), legal validity of exchanges of information is considered a barrier in implementation of e-procurement system. E-procurement is not well established in emerging countries because of legal infra structure barriers. Karaman &Yamamoto (2007).

2.1.5 Insecurity in E-Transactions 

Shared systems, shared network resources or web servers that are commonly used are subjected to theft, virus and worm attacks. Hence this has created difficulties in controlling access to a computer which contains confidential information and hence putting the integrity of the information at risk. These attacks can be either external (hackers) or internal (employees, partners and clients). There are also cases where database of credit cards information is being hacked or unauthorized persons gaining access to sensitive information from systems which are supposed to be secure. Seng & Hwee (2003).

2.2. How organisations are addressing the e-procurement challenges

Commitment to ensure success of the implementation as well as the use of e-procurement is required from the internal users (Panda & Sahu, 2012). According to Tan, Felix and Ter (2010), successful e-procurement system is required to have suppliers willing and able to trade electronically. A study conducted by the AGIMO (2005), showed that supplier adoption and involvement is important to the overall success of an e-procurement program. The study concluded that the more suppliers in the system, the more inclined buyers will be able to use it therefore improving its performance.

Also according to Shawn (2006),information stored in the client computer should be protected to prevent unauthorized access, disclosure or manipulation of the stored information. This protection needs to be both physical and software based. A number of applications are now supporting biometrics as a physical access technology that provides better authentication. Host hardening and the use of secure access controls can greatly enhance client side security.

Repudiation property of the information must be maintained to void a customer from disowning a transaction. The use of digital signatures and incorporation of encryption-based approaches when carefully selected and implemented can greatly minimize non-repudiation type of security attacks, (Hall 2006). Major online security threats that impede performance of e-procurement include eavesdropping by sniffer programs, software back doors, spoofing and denial of service (Dillard 2001).

System specification appears to be a critical issue in the uptake of e-procurement. The IDC report (2003) highlights the slow uptake of e-procurement systems, emphasizing some of the IS-related issues that inhibit implementation, including software integration. 

The extent to which an e-procurement system is able to integrate effectively with other information systems, particularly production planning & control and finance systems, is posited by Subramaniam & Shaw (2002) to be a major causal determinant of the efficiency and effectiveness of an e-procurement system. Rajkumar (2001) also identifies system integration as a critical success factor for e-procurement implementation, both with the customer’s information infrastructure and in its links to suppliers. 

Lin & Hsieh (2000) use a single case study to highlight the importance of both web content management and content rationalization as significant issues for e-procurement operation. They note that constantly changing prices, specifications and account details across the supply base cause major problems in the maintenance of supplier catalogues. In addition, the way an item is described (item coding) is noted as a significant data management issue for e-procurement.

The influence of improved information transmission and user access to the procurement process through the adoption of e-procurement has a significant impact on the configuration and structure of supply chains. Croom (2001) notes that the literature posits two opposing schools of thought on the subject

On one side, they may increase the tendency towards market transactions as the barriers to participate in electronic transactions diminish. Malone et al. (1989) argue that inter-organizational electronic networks improve co-ordination between firms to reduce the costs of searching for appropriate goods and services – “electronic brokerage effects”.  Consequently, they claim that one of the major effects of inter-organizational networks would be a shift from hierarchical to market relationships. Barratt and Rosdahl (2002) argue that ease of search and transparency acts as an advantage to the buyer but may be a disadvantage for the seller, which further reinforces market-based relationships under e-procurement.  

On the other side, it has been posited that the proprietary nature of some inter-organizational systems may in fact serve to tie in customers and suppliers into virtual hierarchies (Konsynski & McFarlan, 1990). Brousseau’s (1990) review of 26 inter-organizational networks shows that most serve to reinforce already existing hierarchical relationships among firms.  Only in two, the petroleum business and textiles, was the use of inter-organizational networks associated with buyers gaining advantage by having more suppliers from which to choose.  Evans and Wurster (2001) claim that the low infrastructure and transaction costs of Internet-based systems allow organizations to exploit the increased opportunities for complex information exchange with multiple partners, but also recognize the value to be gained through closer, hierarchical, relationships between regular trading partners (‘affiliation’).  Amit and Zott (2001) likewise discussed the importance of close relationships (‘lock-in’) between trading partners as a key source of advantage to both buyer and seller. 

2.2 The impact of e-procurement adoption on organizational performance.

E-procurement system plays a fundamental role in B2B purchasing by streamlining the buying process and providing the information needed to make more effective purchasing decisions (Osmonbekov et al. 2002). Previous studies allude to the fact that many companies have found benefits from their implementation of e-procurement system. The adoption of Web-based e-procurement system in the B2B purchasing transaction allows firms to reduce transaction costs, improve internal procurement process efficiency, and increase collaboration with suppliers (Barbieri and Zanoni 2005). The benefits of technology-based supports for procurement activities can be organized into two broad categories: organizational level and inter-organizational level. In organizational level, previous studies suggested that implementing e-procurement system could make company’s procurement process more efficient and effective through automating procurement process, reengineering the internal processes and enhancing inter-organizational coordination. 

For example, Davila et al. (2003) thought that implementing e-procurement the firm could shorten the order fulfillment cycle time, lower inventory levels and the price paid for goods, and reduce administrative costs of procurement. Eakin (2003) argued that the benefits of e-procurement can be classified to hard benefits (such as price savings and process cost reductions), soft benefits (such as individual time freed up through more efficient processes), and intangible benefits (such as cultural change, financial approval for all spending, and high visibility of supplier performance). Presutti (2003) found e-procurement system can bring benefits to the company such as reducing time to- market cycles, reducing material and transactions costs, and reducing stock levels. Chaffey (2004) argued that the benefits of e- procurement include reduced purchasing cycle time and cost, enhanced budgetary control, elimination of administrative errors, increasing buyers’ productivity, lowering prices through product standardization and consolidation of buys, improving the payment process, and improving information management. 

Implementing Web-based e-procurement system not only could make the operational processes of the buyer organization more effective but also could make the order fulfillment process of the supplier organization more efficient and improve partner relationship management. The main objective of the order fulfillment process that buyer expected is supplier can deliver qualified products to fulfill its orders at the right time and right place (Lin and Shaw 1998). The order fulfillment performance can be improved if supplier can recognize the order, so that the order demand patterns are more transparent to the supplier. In order for supplier to enhance order fulfillment performance, buyer and supplier have to share information. For instance, Toyota shares its inventory and sales information with its suppliers. Having access to such information helps Toyota’s suppliers plan and manage their operations better and Toyota can coordinate the inventory orders effectively; as a result, the implementation of just in time (JIT) delivery strategy can be achieved (Chopra and Meindl 2001). Web-based e-procurement enables the information to be shared among trading partners, such as sales forecasts, production schedules, inventory levels, and product specifications.

Developing a purchasing strategy that will enhance internal customer satisfaction on e-Procurement function is a complex process and there are a lot of factors that has to be taken into account, which factors vary between companies, commodities, situation and environment. Dobler and Burt (1996) states that if suppliers are involved earlier in the buyer design process of the E-procurement system, they can contribute with their expertise in the following areas: Material specifications, tolerances, standardization, order sizes, process ethanol’s in supplier manufacturing, packaging, inventory & transportation, via a web designed interlink. Further Dobler and Burt (1996) states that another aspect to consider when developing a strategy is how many parallel sources supply should be used. 

A company can chose to take all supply from a single supplier, which is usually called single sourcing, or they can take their supplies form two or more suppliers, called dual or multiple sourcing. The different strategic are appropriate in different situations. According to Dobler and Baurt (1996) single sourcing is appropriate when. Bottler prices can be achieved through larger volumes (economies of scale), quality is important, A strong influence over a supplier is advantageous, In addition to quality, control and coordination required with just-in-time manufacturing require a single source, significantly lower freight costs many result; special tooling or machinery is required, and the use of more than one supplier is impractical or excessively costly, total system inventory will be reduces, an improved commitment on the supplier’s part results, improved interdependency and risk sharing result and time to market is critical. 

On the other hand Dobler and Burt (1996) states that dual or multiple sourcing many is appropriate. To protect the buyer of shortage, strikes or other emergencies, to maintain competition and provide a back-up source; to meet local content requirements for international manufacturing locations; more also to meet customer’s volume requirements, avoid lethargy or complacency on the part of the single source supplier when the customers a small player in the market for a specific item, when technology part is uncertain and in areas where suppliers tend to leapfrog each other technologically. 

Croinin- Harris (2004) state a company has two main windows to the outside world, the sales department and the purchasing deportment. Because of this they mean that the actions of these two departments are extremely visible and therefore important for the perception of the firm externally. According to Cronin. Harris (2004), studios have shown that behavior of the purchasing department in ethical issue has a major effect t on the behavior of the rest of the company in similar situation (Internal customers). It is therefore essential to ensure ethnical behavior form the purchasing department. The author states that the best way to ensure this is through the development and enforcement of a relevant ethics policy and through continuous training and education. 

According to Heinrityz et al (1991), a purchaser is an agent for his/her company who has been given the authority by owner or management to commit funds. There are often monetary limit to the amount that may be spent by any single buyer without securing approval of the expenditure by general management. The author’s state further that authority should be comparable with responsibility and the ability to meet that responsibility. Hein Ritz et al (1991), states that managers gives purchasers authority, they usually control cost by restricting the amounts that a purchaser has the authority to sign for. There might be several steps of authority, for instance a single buyer ties the authority to sign deals up to a certain amount, over that amount the deal has to be signed by a senior purchaser up to a certain amount and over that by the chief procurement officer and above that by the CEO.

2.3 Summary and research gaps 

E-procurement constitutes a very important information technology managerial tool that has the potential of improving and integrating various functions across the organization. This internal integration can enhance the current performance of an organization as well as improve the future performance of the organization. E-procurement can also help drive future confidence in the face of both internal and external risk. E-Procurement can reduce quality costs by making sure that selected suppliers deliver a product of service that does not exceed extensive quality control. E-Procurement can also reduce quality costs by making sure that the components bought do not load to complaints on the user department or final product to the customer. 

The literatures reviewed have indicated that there are no studies that have been carried out on the effects of e-procurement on the performance of organizations. Studies on e-procurement are also few since the concept has not been adopted in most organizations. There is need therefore to conduct a study to establish the effects of e-procurement on organizational performance.

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the research methodology which include; Research design, study population, study area, instruments of data collection, data processing, Study  instruments, sources of data and data  analysis.

3.1 Research design

The research will employ a descriptive research design. The design will exploit both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitative approach will include use of interviews, while quantitative approaches will involve use of descriptive statistics that will be generated inform of frequency tables, graphs, and Charts. Qualitative and quantitative approaches will be adopted to enable the researcher get and analyze information concerning respondents’ opinions about e-procurement and service delivery.

3.2 Study Area

The research will be carried out at Bidco Uganda Limited.

3.3 Study population

Study population is a complete set of individuals, cases or objects with some common observable characteristics. The sample population consists of 100 staff.The population will include the sales representative, procurement department, and transportation department, and other employees holding familiar and unfamiliar titles but are deemed to be suitable stakeholders for generating relevant data to the problem which will be under investigation

3.4 Sample size

The sample size will consist of 60 respondents from the study area and these will be selected as follows;

Table 3.1: Showing Sample size

Source: Primary Data

The study will use a sample size selected 60 respondents because it will be enough for the study to obtain reliable information. In addition, it will help the researcher to finish her study in time.

3.5 Sampling method

Sampling is a definite plan determined before data collection for obtaining a sample from a given population. It involves three decisions: who to be sampled, how many people to sample, and how to obtain the sample. 

The stratified sampling will be used to arrive to the people to include in the study. It’s a method in which the population is divided into a number of divisions and a sample is drawn from division and such sample makes us the final sample. Using this method, respondents will be grouped into separate homogenous group of subjects with similar characteristics. Purposive Sampling involves deliberate selection of particular units of the population for constituting a representative sample. It involves convenience and judgmental sampling. Judgmental sampling or purposive sampling – The researcher will choose the sample based on who will be appropriate for the study. 

3.6 Data collection methods and instruments

Questioning method

The researcher will use the questioning method whereby she will draft to respondents structured questions. This method will be used because some respondents may have no time to sit down and answer during interviews.

A questionnaire guide will be used and this will be inform of close ended in nature and this will allow the study respondents to fill the questionnaire in the study field. The questionnaire method of data collection will be used because of being cheap and that the method collects responses with minimum errors and high level of confidentiality.

Interviewing method 

An interview is a conversation where questions are asked and answers are given. Interview refers to a one-on-one conversation with one person acting in the role of the interviewer and the other in the role of the interviewee.

An interview guide will be drafted with a set of questions that the researcher asked during an interview and this will be structured (close ended) in nature. Interview guide will be used by the study since the methods helps in the collection of more data as it allows the interaction of both the researcher and the respondents. 

3.7 Data collection procedure

The study will observe all procedures followed in research. Using the letter of introduction obtained from the Research Coordinator, School of management and Entrepreneurship, the researcher will be introduced to every respondent reached at, fully explaining the purpose of research. After getting their consent, she will set a program with the respondents on when the questionnaires will be administered and date for the interview sessions will be set. The researcher also will build the confidence of the respondents by assuring them that their views will be confidential and will be used only for academic purposes.

3.8 Validity and reliability of research instruments

There are no scientific principles which would guarantee a valid and reliable questionnaire, but there are ways in which this can be pursued. First, the items in the questionnaire should be based on prior research whenever possible. Due to this, in this study most of the questions will be to be based on prior research. Secondly, the questionnaire should be pre-tested (Malhotra& Birks 2007).

3.8.1 Validity

To test the construct validity, citations of all sources where materials and evidence of material collected from will be provided. The supervisor will review the questionnaires and approve them.  

3.8.2 Reliability

When conducting research, the researcher will try to act as neutral as possible in order to avoid being bias. The researcher will be also conscious about the type of questions to ask.

3.9 Data analysis

The data collected will be edited for accuracy, completeness and to find out how well the answered questionnaires will be and this will be done in line with the questionnaires. The edited data will be coded. Coding will involve assigning numbers to similar questions from which answers will be given unique looks to make the work easier. In this case Ms-excel will be used to analyze the coded data.

3.10 Data Presentation

Presentation of data will involve use of tables, pie-charts and graphs that will be generated from the questions relevant to the study variables. Interpretation and discussion of the results will be done as the researcher will explain the strength of the study variables basing on the frequencies and percentages, charts and graphs. 

3.10 Limitations of the Study

The study will be faced with a problem of not finding all respondents in the study area especially the employees who go to field as a group. The researcher however will arrange with them to fix for her an appropriate time in order to collect reliable and valid information from them for the study.

The study also will be expensive in terms of stationary. However the researcher will mobilize funds from her friends and family members for the study to be completed successfully in time with the help of her supervisor.

The researcher further will face a problem of some respondents not providing information for the study as information relating to the study variables, however to this, researcher will explain to them that the information will be only for the academic purpose while making them to understand the study variables. 

STUDY QUESTIONAIRE FOR STAFF

Dear respondents NAMUGOSA FLAVIA, student of Kyambogo universty conducting a research study on the effect of e-procuremnt on the performance of Bidco (U) Ltd. Your organisation has chosen as aresourcefull place to attain the required infomation in regard to the  research study. The questions are not meant to test you but to gather your humble and objective response about  the facts on e-procurement and service delivery.please feel free when responding to questionaires because the information given was treated with respect,alot confidentiality and shall never be disclosed to any other person unless authorised.

Section A: Background information

Note: For each of the questions, tick against your response or write your response in the blank space provided.

1.Gender

1. a) Female
2. b) Male
3. Age range
4. a) Less than 30yrs b) 30-39yrs
5. c) 40-49yrs d) 49-50yrs
6. e) over 50yrs
7. Level of education
8. a) Post graduate b)       b) Diploma
9. c)  Degree d) Masters
10. Period you have served in this organization 
11. a) Less than 2 years b) 2-5 years
12. c) 6-10 years d) Over 10 years

Section B: The factors hindering e-procurement adoption in organizations.

5. What factors hinder e-procurement adoption in your organization? Tick the best option by using  Strongly Disagree (SD), Disagree (D), Not Sure (NS), Agree (D) and Strongly Agree (SA) SD=1, D=2, NS=3, A=4, SA=5

Others (specify) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Section C: How organisations are addressing the e-procurement challenges.

6. How has your organisation tried to minimise the challenges faced? Tick the best option by using  Strongly Disagree (SD), Disagree (D), Not Sure (NS), Agree (D) and Strongly Agree (SA) SD=1, D=2, NS=3, A=4, SA=5

Others Specify…………………………………………………..

Section D: The impact of e-procurement adoption on organizational performance

7. What is the impact of e-procurement on organizational performance? Tick the best option by using  Strongly Disagree (SD), Disagree (D), Not Sure (NS), Agree (D) and Strongly Agree (SA) SD=1, D=2, NS=3, A=4, SA=5

Others (specify) …………………………………………………………

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR TOP MANAGEMENT

1. What do you under stand by the term e- procurement?
2. In what ways has your organisation applied e-procurement in its operations ?
3. What factors hinder the adoption of e-procurement in your organisation?
4. How has your organisation tried to minimise the hinderances?
5. What is the impact of e-procurement on organizational performance?
6. What is your general comment concerning the study under investigation?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION