This document provides an outline for a thesis proposal that will investigate factors influencing procurement practices in public sectors in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia. The study will examine how procurement planning, staff competency, ICT utilization, procurement policy, procedures, and employee ethics affect procurement practices. Data will be collected through questionnaires and interviews with procurement officials. Descriptive and inferential statistics will then be used to analyze the data and determine the influence of each factor. The results could help improve procurement practices in the region's public sectors.

1. DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT, WOLKITE
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS, SCHOOL OF GRADUATE
STUDIES
FACTORS INFLUENCING PROCUREMENT PRACTICES IN PUBLIC SECTORS,
GURAGE ZONE
A THESIS PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT IN
PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MA DEGREE IN
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
By: Mechal Andie Id No: 022/11
Advisor: Abas Mohammed (PHD)
Examiner: Tamiru .Y( Dr)
January, 2022

2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Chapter one: Introduction
Chapter three: Methodology of the Research

3. 1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Procurement is a core activity that has implications on the
operations of an organization together with being an activity
which cuts across all the departments in the organization.
It is an activity that forms part of the key operations within
the organization since it is through procurement that the
organization acquires the various resources that ensure its
continued existence.
Every day and every moment, organizations are
constantly involved in the process of procurement for
goods, services, assets and/or works.

4. BACKGROUND CON…
However, according to Wanyonyi, (2015), procurement is the nerve center of
performance in every institution, whether public or private, and thus, needs a
serious attention and tight system to be adopted and followed. In many
developing countries, huge amounts of domestic and foreign resources spend
on public procurement.
However, public procurement systems are very weak and effective
governance of the public sector is at the center of strong challenges Thai,
(2009).
Moreover, in developing country, many procurement activities still suffer from
neglect, lack of proper direction, poor coordination, slow with a number of
bureaucracy, lack of open competition and transparency, lack of accessibility,
differing levels of corruption and not having a cadre of trained and qualified
procurement officer, who are capable to conduct and manage the procurement

5. BACKGROUND CON…
In developing countries, public procurement is increasingly recognized as
essential in service delivery and it accounts for a high proportion of total
expenditure. For example, public procurement accounts for 60% in Kenya (Akech,
2005), 58% in Angola, 40% in Malawi and 70% of Uganda’s public spending
(Basheka and Bisangabasaija, 2010).
In Ethiopia context, more than 60% of the total public expenditure has been
spent through public procurement in a year.
t is a huge amount of money that public bodies spent via public procurement.
The expenditure on public procurement is increasing from year to year.
However, the resource spent on public procurement is not used properly and in
an economical manner and in the current Ethiopian public procurement process,
the compliant on public procurement process shows increment from year to year.
Efficiently and effectively handling this size of procurement outlay has been a policy

6. BACKGROUND CON…
Therefore, focus of this study will be examining the procurement practices as how
they are conducted and what kind of challenges had occurred and has been
occurring during procurement practices and the resultant procurement performance.
In addition, it will attempt to identify influential factors that draw backs
procurement performances in achieving the overall objective of the Gurage zone
public Finance sectors.

7. Procurement is perceived as prone to corruption; occasioning waste and
affecting quality of service and life improving opportunities.
Many procurement activities still suffer from neglect, lack of proper direction,
poor co-ordination, slow with a lot of bureaucracy, lack of open competition and
transparency, differing levels of corruption and not having a cadre of trained and
qualified procurement specialists who are competent to conduct and manage
the procurement process in a professional, timely and cost effective manner.
According Kenyanya (2011), dissatisfaction among stakeholders brought
about by loopholes left by the Regulations which may be used by dishonest
people to make the process inefficient (Kenyanya, 2011).

8. In Ethiopian context, empirical studies have shown that inefficient procurement
practice has been seen in different government organizations/sectors.
For instance, explanatory study by Tirualem and Amanpreet (2020) on factors
affecting the effective functioning of public procurement in Public Universities of
Ethiopia revealed that, public procurement policy, legal environment,
organizational structure, employee ethics, ICT and management of suppliers
have positive and significant effect on the effective functioning of public
procurement practice

9. Another study by Wossene (2019) on factors affecting public procurement
performance in Addis Ababa City, taking a case of Gulele Sub-City
administration and the
On the other hand, Abebe (2017) in assessing factors affecting public
procurement performance in Ethiopia: the case of public procurement and
property disposal services and the results of this study indicate that the
independent variables:

10. In spite of having various studies undertaken on procurement practice in public
procurement, there are still gaps that need to be addressed such as the previous
studies were not clearly explain the influence level (contribution) of procurement
planning, staff competency, ICT utilization on procurement performance, and they
did not consider the effect of internal control on public procurement performance.
Similarly, they measure the procurement performance of public entities by
focusing on the process with little emphasis on achievement of procurement
objectives.
On the other hand, factors influencing procurement practice in public sectors in
Gurage Zone has not been adequately studied empirically.
Thus, based on the above scenario, this study will seek to investigate factors
affecting procurement practice in case of public sector offices Gurage Zone
considering that effective procurement practice will be affected by procurement
planning, staff competency, procurement policy, information communication

11. 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
.
The study will attempt to address the following research questions
1. How does procurement planning affect procurement practice of other public
bodies in public procurement property disposals?
2. To what extent does staff competency influence procurement practices in public
procurement property disposals?
3. What is the effect of adoption of information communication technology on the
public procurement practices in public procurement property disposals?
4. How do procurement procedures influence public procurement practices in
public procurement property disposals?
5. What is the effect of procurement policy on the effective implementation of
public procurement practice in public procurement property disposals?
6. How do employee procurement ethics influence procurement practice in public
procurement property disposals?

12. 1.4. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.4. General Objective
1.4.1. The general objective of this study is to investigate factors influencing public procurement
practice in Gurage Zone public sectors.
1.4.2 Specific Objectives
The specific objectives of the study are:
To examine the effect of procurement planning on procurement practices in public procurement property
disposals.
To determine the extent to which staff competency influences procurement practices in public procurement
property disposals
To investigate how information communication technology (ICT) utilization affects the procurement
practices in public procurement property disposals.
To investigate the effect of procurement policy on the effective implementation of public procurement
practices in public procurement property disposals.
To analyze the influence of procurement procedure on procurement practices in public procurement property
disposals.
To establish the effect of employee procurement ethics on the effective implementation of public procurement
practices in public procurement property disposals.

13. 1.5. Significance of the Study
The study will be significant for Gurage zone public
sectors to improve its procurement practices by focusing the
findings of this study. It will be used as an input for
policymakers to develop ways for effective procurement
practices in public procurement property disposals. And also
the findings of the study will be used as a literature and it can
be used as a reference point and give direction for different
future researchers.

14. 2.5 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Procurement planning
Staff competency
Procurement Policy
ICT
Employee ethics
Procurement procedure
Independent
Variables Dependent variable
Procurement
practices

15. 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
In this study descriptive and explanatory research design will be employed in order to
investigate the extent of the influences of the six factors on procurement practices in
public procurement property disposals in Gurage Zone public sectors.
- This is because it is believed that descriptive survey design helps to examine the what,
where, and when of a phenomenon.
- Moreover, it also helps to gather data at a particular point in time with the intention of
describing the nature of the existing condition.
Regards to explanatory design, it captures the causal relationship between
variables (Saunders et al., 2007).
- In explanatory study a situation or problem leads to the explanation of the
relationship between variables

16. 3.3 Research Approach
In this study, mixed approach will be employed.
Mixed method research resides within the middle of this continuum
because it incorporates elements of both qualitative and
quantitative approaches.
3.4 Target Population
The target population of the study will be 88 procurement
committee, 66 purchasers, and 22 procurement directorate
directors in Gurage Zone public sectors.
In Gurage Zone, there are sixteen woredas and six administrative
towns.

17. 3.5 SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION AND SAMPLING
TECHNIQUES
3.5.1 Sample Size Determination
The study involves a total population of 176 which is stratified
into three classes of 88 members of procurement committees,
66 purchasers and 22 procurement directorate directors.
The sample size of the participants from the six administrative
towns and sixteen woredas public sectors will be determined
using a simplified formula for proportion (Yamane, 1967 cited
in Njoroge, 2016).). This formula is used to calculate the
sample size from the target population.

18. 3.5 SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION AND
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES CONT…
 The formula: n=N/n+N(e)2 , Where n is the sample size, is the
population size (Total number of the target population in
Gurage Zone public sectors), e is the level of precision (5%).
 Therefore, the sample size of the participants will be:
n=N/n+N(e)2 = 176/1+176(0.05)=122.222… 122, where N =
176.
Based on the target population given above, sample size will
be determined from the three classes using proportional
allocation rule as:

19. 3.5 SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION AND
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES CONT…
From Procurement Committee: npc/Npc=n/N , where npc= sample
size of participants from procurement committees in public sectors of
Gurage Zone and npc = Total members of procurement committees.
Thus, npc/88 = 122/176 =10,736/176=61
Pc (procurement committee is 61
From purchasers: Np/np=N/n , where np = sample size of purchasers
from public sectors of Gurage Zone and Np = Total number of
purchasers
Thus, np/66 = 122/176 np=66x122/176=8052/176=45.75≈46

20. 3.5 SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION AND
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES CONT…
From procurement directorate directors :npdd /
Npdd=n/N where npdd=sample size of procurement
directorate directors from public sectors of Gurage Zone and
NpDD= Total number of procurement directorate directors.
 Thus:NpDD/22=122/176 it gives
22x122/176.=2684/176=15.25 ≈15
Finally, the participants will be selected randomly from the
chosen woredas and administrative towns’ public sectors.

21. 3.5.2 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
The sampling techniques that the researcher will undertake in this
study will be cluster, proportionate stratified and simple random
sampling techniques.
Cluster sampling technique will be used to select woredas and
administrative towns.
Proportionate stratified sampling technique will be implemented in
order to set the number of procurement committees, purchasers and
procurement directorate directors from the chosen woredas and towns.
Accordingly, sixteen woredas and six woreda administrative towns will
be selected using cluster sampling technique.

22. 3.6 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
AND INSTRUMENTS
Questionnaire will be prepared which consists of both open
and close-ended questions, semi - structured interview also
will be used.
In addition to questionnaire and interview, data will be
collected from different published and unpublished materials.

23. 3.8 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
In this study, the collected data through the questionnaire will be
analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Moreover, data gathered through interview as well as from document
review will be embedded to support the quantitative data analysis
result in the discussion section and the content of the answers from
the interviewees will be analyzed using inductive approach.

24. 3.8.1 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS ANALYSIS
Descriptive statistics to determine, describe and analyze the characteristics of
respondents in terms of
 sex, age, educational background and work experience frequency
counts, percentage, mean and standard deviation will be
implemented to analyze to what extent the factors affect the
procurement practices in Gurage Zone public sectors.
3.8.2 Qualitative Analysis: Induction approach

25. 3.8.3 INFERENTIAL ANALYSIS: MODEL SPECIFICATION
is the Multiple Linear Regression Model with Y = Procurement Practices
which is the dependent variable and the 6 – independent variables which
will be taken and intended to explore how these explanatory variables with
their respective items affected the dependent variable: in the above
equation, PP = procurement planning, SC = staff competency, ICT =
information communication technology, PPOL = procurement policy,
PPROS = procurement procedure and EPE = employee procurement
ethics.