CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
E-procurement is the transition from traditional paper-based procurement to a more integrated and digital process. This process encompasses various aspects of contract purchasing and awarding in both the private and public sectors.
The construction industry is a large and complex industry with a wide range of professionals, trade associations, clients, and specialty firms all with their own agendas and allegiances (Brian and Peter, 2007). The industry is multi-organizational and heavily reliant on the exchange of large amounts of data (Akinsola, Dawood and Hobbs, 2000). Hence, it is information-hungry but notably a slow adopter of new information technology (Dawood and Sikka, 2009). The industry is currently experiencing globalization trends as its clients, partners and customers are in virtually every part of the world.
Procurement, which is the acquisition, purchase or supply of goods and services, is an important aspect of the construction industry. Many within the industry see it as a routine and repetitive processes that are labour intensive, dominated by paper works; costly but inefficient. This was before the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web. With the introduction of internet, most businesses have embraced the use of Internet facilities to improve their performance (Brian and Peter, 2007). The increasing use of the Internet to support the execution of procurement activities in various industries gave rise to electronic (e) procurement. E-Procurement is the application of ICT tools that transforms the traditional processes of acquisition, purchase or supply of goods and services into electronic processes to improve competence and performance while enabling simplicity and automation (Philips and piotrowicz, 2006). Some of the benefits of e-Procurement identified are increase in process quality and quality of products, competitive advantage, improved collaboration, reduced procurement cost and managerial effectiveness (Teo, 2009). Several studies have been conducted on e-Procurement ranging from benefits, barriers and factors influencing the adoption of e-procurement. In Nigeria, Akpehe (2016) reported a good awareness among construction industry professionals. While Egidario et al (2016) also reported the awareness level and involvement of practitioners in Nigeria on e-Procurement as rather slow and low.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
E-Procurement is more than just an online purchasing system. e-Procurement is the use of ICT tools for the acquisition, purchase, or supply of goods and services by a private or public organization through electronic processes such as e-tendering, e-awarding, e-auction, and e-sourcing. In comparison to the traditional procurement system, studies have shown that e-Procurement improves competence and performance in the construction industry globally. In Nigeria, the awareness and implementation of e-Procurement is rather low and slow especially among contracting firms. There is also limited research on the perception of quantity surveyors on e-Procurement adoption to mitigate corrupt practices in public procurement . This study aims to fill this gap by assessing quantity surveyors’ perception on e-procurement adoption.