Ethical procurement practices and corporate reputation in Kenyan parastatals

Abstract

The current study sought to fill this gap by holistically investigating the role of ethical procurement practices and corporate reputation in Kenyan parastatals. In particular, the study concentrated on procurement procedures that are transparent, ethical in terms of secrecy, professional in terms of procurement, and honest in terms of procurement. There are 187 parastatals in Kenya which was the target population. Census of all 187 heads of procurement department was done. The study used a descriptive research design to conduct the research. For the purpose of this study, primary data from both predictor variables and the dependent variable was utilized. This information analyzed was acquired through the utilization of a Likert questionnaire that is closed-ended and has five points. In order to provide respondents sufficient time to finish filling out the surveys, they were distributed in a format that allows them to manage their own administration. It is the intention of this prolonged duration to suit the demanding schedules and shift work of the participants, which analyzed ultimately result in an increased possibility of a higher response rate. The use of a multiple regression model was implemented in order to evaluate the degree of consistency that exists between the variables that are dependent and those that are independent. The analyzed data was presented in the form of tables that exhibit percentages throughout the presentation. The purpose of this presentation approach is to make the interpretation and comprehension of the findings of the research easier to accomplish. In order to carry out the statistical tests, a significance level of 5% and a confidence level of 95% was utilized. The correlations results showed that procurement transparency and corporate reputation are positively and significantly associated. Confidentiality ethical practice had a positive betta value which was statistically significant. The study concluded that increasing procurement transparency in Kenyan parastatals or corporations would lead to improved corporate reputation. The analysis of responses from procurement professionals suggests that procurement professionalism had a beta value which was not statistically significant. Based on these findings, this study concluded that as procurement confidentiality increase corporate reputation also tends to increase. Integrity in procurement practice had a positive beta value that was highly significant. Also, this study concluded that procurement professionalism does not significantly contribute to explaining the corporate reputation. Based on these findings, this study concluded that as integrity procurement practice increase corporate reputation also tends to increase. Organizations should prioritize the development and communication of well-defined confidentiality regulations and processes. Future studies should consider exploring additional variables that could have a significant impact on the dependent variable. Moreover, researchers may benefit from employing alternative modeling techniques or conducting qualitative investigations to uncover deeper insights into the underlying factors contributing to the unexplained variance.