APPRAISING THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE USE OF E-PROCUREMENT IN NIGERIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Purpose: The fragmentation in the Nigerian construction industry is often seen as one out of many contributors to low productivity in construction and has led to well-documented problems with both communication and information processing. In Nigeria, Procurement over the years has been carried out manually and it has been distinguishingly characterized by large paperwork, high cost, corruption, and delay in procurement process. For this reason, this paper x-ray the factors influencing the use of E-procurement in the Nigerian construction industry. Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative data were collected from construction professionals. The data were analysed using Mean Item Score (MIS) and Kruskal-Wallis H Test.Findings: The most important risk factors influencing e-procurement in the Nigerian construction industry are safety and insecurity issues, the unreliability of technology, reduced level of personal contact, resistance to change among others. It is established from the study that E-procurement implementation can be expensive among construction firms in Nigeria. The factors influencing the use of E-procurement in the Nigerian construction industry the ease of transitioning from paper to electronic systems as the most important factor influencing the adoption of e-procurement followed by availability of policies to promote e-procurement, and then by the cost of e-procurement technology. Practical implication: The paper provides procurement managers with relevant factors that influence the adoption decision. This highlights the importance of maximizing the benefits of e-procurement system for potential users to facilitate the adoption process.
Originality/value: The paper complements the existing literature review about the use of e procurement in the construction industry.