The Government of Jamaica’s electronic procurement system: experiences and lessons learned

Abstract

Purpose Realizing value from information and communication technology (ICT) in procurement in developing countries is complex due to diverse stakeholders and intertwined procurement processes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the experience of the Government of Jamaica in leveraging ICTs as an intervention to transform its procurement operations and combat corruption. Design/methodology/approach The study examines conversations with employees in the Government of Jamaica to understand key milestones in its procurement history. Based on the view that the intervention context is an ecosystem where multiple and inconsistent views of the e-procurement system evolve over time, the study analyzes milestones to reveal key actions that contributed either to the initial success of or introduced challenges to the e-procurement system. Findings The findings suggest that inducing positive sentiments about the intervention through transparency will overcome a long history of negative sentiments about the initiatives of government bodies in general. Furthermore, positive sentiments may not be directly related to the e-procurement system. Research limitations/implications The study offers important insights that government bodies in similar contexts can apply to guide initiatives for transforming procurement operations. For instance, training should emphasize not only the technical aspects of the system from the perspective of different stakeholders but also their job descriptions. Future research may examine other initiatives in developing countries to compare the role of sentiments over time. Originality/value The study adopts a unique approach to understand the experience of a developing country in harnessing ICTs to transform procurement operations.

Digital Transformation Initiative in a Public Sector Organization: Stakeholder Viewpoints and Responses in Ghana

“…In relation to the research question and literature review, this section discusses the findings of the study. While stakeholder viewpoints are relevant for the effective understanding of e-procurement platform implementation [2], this study suggests that their responses to such initiatives sometimes run contrary to the viewpoints. It is evident from the case analysis that though some stakeholders are pleased with the eprocurement platform implementation because of the realization of some viewpoints, there is still skepticism about the success of the project.…”

User Experience Dimensions for E-procurement

“…Therefore, the satisfaction dimension used in the e-procurement literature is related to the system's ease of use and usefulness (criteria) that can influence user satisfaction. Ahmad et al (2019) discussed trust issues in e-procurement where the users were able to gain their trust and engage with the system processes if the system had the transparency element. Other than that, ease of use of the system can be associated with the satisfaction dimension, in which using the e-procurement system effortlessly (Ramkumar et al, 2019) influences users to use the system (Ibem et al, 2020).…”

Mitigation of Corruption by Implementing e-Government Using Soft Computing

“…In addition, some studies [11,18] have argued that e-government cannot eliminate public sector corruption. However, numerous studies [3,5,13,30] have suggested that e-government technologies and apps can reduce corruption in the public sector by addressing problems such as lack of accountability, ineffective governance, information inequalities, and service delays between others. On the other hand, some studies contend that e-government may not be sufficient to address corrupt behaviours that have remained even after the digitization of public services [31].…”

“…e-government is the use of ICTas a tool to provide services to the citizens, businesses, and government institutions e ectively and e ciently. us, enable government to be more e ective and trustworthy and sharply increase the possibilities of establishing and mitigating corruption [1][2][3][4]. Many countries across the globe are experiencing high levels of corruption, particularly in developing countries.…”