An e-government framework for assessing readiness for public sector e-procurement in a lower-middle income country

ABSTRACT

Governments globally are leveraging information and communication technology (ICT) growth towards improving the quality of public procurement services for socio-economic development. However, the extent of its application differs across nations. Notwithstanding the extant theoretical and empirical literature on IT for development, knowledge on how to assess readiness for adopting a full e-procurement system in the public sector of lower and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) begs for understanding. With the narrative of Ghana, we address this gap by drawing on the institutional and economic theory and the United Nations E-Government Development Index towards a holistic framework beyond the dyad of linear website functionalities and internet focus of prior e-government adoption models. Elite interviews gathered from multiple cases from Ghana’s public sector reveals the key readiness determinants for a full public sector e-procurement system. This study has significant implications for shaping the process-oriented management of government e-procurement projects towards socio-economic development in LMICs amid their complex institutional and socio-technical environments.

KEYWORDS:

• E-government
• public sector e-procurement
• e-government development index
• institutional and economic theory
• qualitative case study
• Ghana

Acknowledgments

We appreciate the constructive comments and suggestions by the three anonymous reviewers towards improving this paper’s quality. Our profound appreciation also goes to all the staff of the selected procurement entities in Ghana who granted us interviews during the data collection process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Peter Adjei-Bamfo is currently a Ph.D. student at the School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. He holds a Master of Philosophy in Public Administration from the University of Ghana Business School where he also worked as a Teaching and Research Assistant prior to commencing his Ph.D. in Australia. In 2016, Peter was awarded an Erasmus Mundus Fellow at Mendel University in the Czech Republic. His research interests include public procurement policy and strategy, electronic procurement, and sustainable operations and public sector supply chain management. Peter’s research has appeared in International Journal of Manpower, Journal of Public Affairs, Resources, Conservation, and Recycling, and Public Organizations Review.

Kwame Ameyaw Domfeh (Ph.D.) studied both in Ghana and the USA and holds a PhD. in Public Administration from the University of Ghana. He is currently a Professor of Public Administration at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) with teaching and research interests in public sector performance management and governance, public policy, ethics in public sector administration, sustainability, environmental policy and politics. From 2004 to 2009, Prof. Domfeh served as the Head of the Department of Public Administration and Health Services Management of University of Ghana Business School, and as the Dean of the School from 2011 to 2014.

Justice Nyigmah Bawole (Ph.D.) is an Associate Professor and currently Dean of the University of Ghana Business School, Legon. Prof. Bawole obtained a Ph.D. in Development Policy and Management from the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester, the UK in 2013. Prior to his appointment as lecturer at the University of Ghana, he worked as Project Manager of an Accra-based NGO. He has taught at all levels of Ghana’s educations system. Prof. Bawole’s research interest is in the areas of participatory management and state-third sector relationships, management of NGOs, and development management: sustainable development, environment-poverty relationships, ethics, and poverty reduction.

Albert Ahenkan (Ph.D.) is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public Administration and Health Services Management, University of Ghana Business School. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium in 2011. In 2019, Albert was appointed as the third Global Network African Faculty Fellow at the Yale School of Management. His research interests are focused on public policy, climate change adaptation and financing strategies, public performance management and public-private partnerships. Dr. Albert Ahenkan has extensive consultancy experience. He is the World Bank local consultant for the development of Ghana’s Multi-Sectoral investment framework for Climate and Disaster Risk Management.

Theophilus Maloreh-Nyamekye (Ph.D.) is a Lecturer at the Department of Public Administration and Health Services Management in the University of Ghana Business School, Accra, Ghana. He holds a Ph.D. and MSc. in Purchasing & Supply Chain Management (UK) from the Robert Gordon University in Scotland. His research interests include electronic procurement, green procurement, quality improvement in health sector, and supply chain management. Theophilus has published in journals like Journal of Public Affairs and International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance.

Stephanie Adjei-Bamfo is a healthcare personnel (Rotation Midwife) at the Ga West Municipal Hospital, Amasaman in Ghana. Her research interests lie in healthcare systems and innovation, particularly eHealth delivery and the adoption of eHealth to improving maternal healthcare. Stephanie believes that the emerging information technolgy growth has significant promise for health development.

Samuel Antwi Darkwah (Ph.D.) is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies and the former Vice Rector for International Relations at Mendel University in the Czech Republic. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics and Management with an emphasis on international trade. His extensive research interests transcend financial, business, and development economics. In his eighteen years working at Mendel University, he has taught courses in financial management, business economics, entrepreneurship, EU policy on agriculture and development challenges of Africa.