E-Procurement Implementation in the South African Construction Industry

Abstract

The conventional procurement process, which is known to be paper-based, is attributed to inefficiencies in the construction industry procurement practices. e-procurement is suggested to provide the opportunity for addressing the inefficiencies of the procurement process. However, its adoption and implementation in the South African construction industry has been reported to be relatively slow. This study aims to ascertain the need for e-procurement in the construction industry and the requirements for its implementation, to understand why there is a slow implementation of e-procurement in the South African construction industry. The study is based on information gathered from semi-structured interviews with four State Owned Enterprises in South Africa. Findings indicate that there is a need for e-procurement in the construction industry to cope with the challenges posed by the current paper-based procurement system, which is attributed with increase information miscommunication, dishonest tendencies, and human errors. Also, reliable IT infrastructure; access to computers and the internet, human capital capability and assurance of transparency and fairness in e-procurement system were reported to be the key requirements for successful implementation of e-procurement in the construction industry. The outcome of the study is useful in providing insights for effective implementation of e-procurement in the South African construction industry.