Effect Of E-procurement Practices On Performance Of Inventory Management In The Manufacturing Firms In Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Technology has been responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness in most of the activities and competition rates in the world of business today. This has made the business world to be more creative and to put more efforts in ensuring that customers were provided with products that are sustainable and affordable Ramkumar (2015). Technology has put most of the organizations under pressure to ensure that they improve their operations, utilization of resources, development of their products, transparency and increasing their efficiency. Technology has also forced most of the companies to adopt to virtual e-procurement and supply chain philosophy from the traditional ways due to emerging of internet and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) that has transformed most of the companies to running their activities through automation Mital (2014). Establishing the effects of e-procurement practices on performance of inventory management in manufacturing firms in Nairobi County, Kenya was the study’s main objective. The study was guided by the following specific objectives; to establish the effect of e sourcing on performance of inventory management in manufacturing firms in Nairobi County in Kenya. To examine the effect of digital buyer-supplier collaboration on performance of inventory management in manufacturing firms in Nairobi County in Kenya. To assess the effect of inventory control on performance of inventory management in manufacturing firms in Nairobi County in Kenya as well as to establish the effect of electronic data transmission on performance of inventory management in manufacturing firms in Nairobi County in Kenya. The study used descriptive research design. The target sample for this study was 278 and the respondents were 208. The study used stratified random sampling method to select companies from the various subsectors of the manufacturing sector in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study used the multiple regression analysis model to measure the relationship between eProcurement practices and performance of inventory performance and the significant of the study. The key findings of the study are that e-soucing, inventory control and electronic data transmission has significant influence on performance of inventory management in manufacturing firm in Nairobi County, Kenya while digital buyer supplier collaboration has insignificant effect on the performance of inventory management. The study recommends that manufacturing firms in Kenya should invest in e-procurement practices given its influence in performance of inventory management. The study also recommends that other key sectors in the economy for example the government sector adopts e-procurement practices to increase transparency in the procurement processes and enhance the accuracy of the stock as well as reduce pilferage of the stocks and reduce the lead times for overall better performance of the sector. Future research might consider investigating the effect of e-procurement practices in various sectors other than manufacturing as well as in manufacturing sector in other counties across the country. The findings of this study have added to the body of knowledge in bridging the gap between the theories and practices of eProcurement.