The effectiveness of unit managers in the procurement management process in Taletso TVET College M.S Wilson orcid.org 0000-0003-4748-3452 Mini-dissertation accepted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Business Administration at the North-West University Supervisor: Prof J. Meyer Graduation ceremony April 2019 Student number: 25982982 Declaration I declare that this research report for the Master of Business Administration (MBA) in the School of Business and Governance at the North-West University (Mafikeng Campus) hereby submitted, has not been submitted by me or anyone else for a degree at this or any other university. That this project is my own work and the contents herein have been properly referenced and acknowledged. ………………………………………. Mr. MS Wilson Acknowledgements My sincere gratefulness goes out to: My family and most importantly my daughter and son for understanding and priceless support during the cause of my studies. Prof. Jan Meyer - my study leader, for the insightful comments, direction and guidance. Mr Joseph Lekunze, for the assistance and support in developing the questionnaires. My employer, Taletso TVET College, for providing me with the opportunity to conduct my study with the unit managers to further my studies. My fellow colleagues for keeping the wheel turning while I was absent during my exam period. To God be the glory, without Him I wouldn't have arrived this far. ii Abstract In this study, the procurement management processes of Taletso TVET College were analysed. Public procurement is the acquisition of goods and services for public institutions. Public procurement is one of many government functions, and the procurement system can be prescribed in the national constitution, as in South Africa (Thai, 2012). The Constitution stipulates that when the government contracts for goods or services, it must do so in accordance with a system which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. These five principles are therefore laid down to apply to the mechanisms and procedures employed by the government when it contracts for goods or services (Bolton, 2006). The primary objective of this study is to analyse the procurement management processes of the Taletso TVET College, and identify the procurement challenges faced by unit managers in the college. Data from four part questionnaires completed by respondents, representing the unit managers across the college, was collected and analysed. This study found that the unit managers are facing challenges in managing the procurement process, and these challenges relate to implementation, skills in the implementation of the procurement procedures and compliance with the policies and regulations. The study identified major concerns such as the current status of the application of the procurement management; causes of late delivery of goods and services; problems faced by the board, as well as possible remedies. It is hereby suggested that a future study be conducted on a similar subject from a comparative perspective with other TVET colleges (Orbit TVET College and Vuselela TVET College) in the North West province. iii Keywords: Procurement Management, Policies, National Treasury, Procurement & Supply Chain Management. iv Table of contents List of figures ............................................................................................................ viii List of tables ............................................................................................................... ix Definition of keywords ................................................................................................ ix Chapter 1: Overview of the study ............................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background to the study ............................................................................... 2 1.3 Problem statement ........................................................................................ 4 1.4 Aim and objective of the study ...................................................................... 5 1.5 Research questions ...................................................................................... 5 1.6 Importance of the study ................................................................................. 6 1.7 Demarcation and assumptions of the study .................................................. 6 1.8 Research data and methodology .................................................................. 8 1.8.1 Research design ......................................................................................... 8 1.8.2 Study Area .................................................................................................. 8 1.8.3 Population ................................................................................................... 8 1.8.4 Sample size ................................................................................................ 8 1.8.5 Data Collection ........................................................................................... 8 1.8.6 Data analysis .............................................................................................. 9 1.9 Ethical consideration ..................................................................................... 9 1.10 Proposed layout of the study ..................................................................... 9 1.11 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 10 Chapter: 2 Literature review ................................................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Overview of the supply chain management .................................................... 11 2.1.1 Demand management .............................................................................. 14 2.1.2 Acquisition management .......................................................................... 15 2.1.3 Logistics management .............................................................................. 15 2.1.4 Disposal management .............................................................................. 16 2.1.5 Risk management ..................................................................................... 16 2.1.6 Supply chain performance ........................................................................ 17 2.3 Supply chain management (SCM) challenges ................................................ 17 2.3.1 Compliance and challenges to SCM in the public sector in South Africa .. 20 2.3.2 Corruption ................................................................................................. 20 v 2.3.3 Lack of proper knowledge, skills, and capacity ......................................... 23 2.3.4 Inadequate planning and linking demand to the budget ........................... 24 2.3.4 Inadequate and inconsistency of risk management/ irregularities in SCM 25 2.3.5 Ineffectiveness of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) ........................................................................................................................... 25 2.3.6 Inadequate monitoring and evaluation of SCM ......................................... 26 2.3.7 Procurement best practices in higher education (HE) ............................... 26 2.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 29 Chapter: 3 Research design and methodology ........................................................ 32 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 32 3.2 Research paradigm and design .................................................................. 32 3.2.1 The research approach ............................................................................. 34 3.3 Population of the study ................................................................................ 34 3.4 Location where unit of analysis is located ................................................... 35 3.5 Data collection strategies ............................................................................ 35 3.6 Data collection procedure ........................................................................... 36 3.7 Reliability ..................................................................................................... 37 3.8 Validity ........................................................................................................ 38 3.9 Data analysis method .................................................................................. 38 3.10 Ethical considerations .............................................................................. 40 3.11 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 40 Chapter 4: Data analysis .......................................................................................... 41 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 41 4.2 Response rate ............................................................................................. 41 4.3 Competence (knowledge and skills) ............................................................ 44 4.4 Procurement Management Process in Taletso TVET College .................... 47 4.5 Application of procurement management process ...................................... 50 4.6 Chapter summary ........................................................................................ 53 Chapter: 5 Discussions of results, conclusions and recommendations .................... 54 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 54 5.2 Discussion of results ................................................................................... 54 5.2.1 Research objective 1: To determine the level at which the Taletso TVET College is progressing with the application of procurement process. ................ 54 vi 5.2.2 Research objective 2: To determine the challenges impeding the unit managers with regard to procurement process in the college and improve it to gain a competitive advantage. ........................................................................... 55 5.2.3 Research objective 3: To determine the role of unit managers in the procurement of goods and services for their respective units. ........................... 56 5.2.4 Research objective 4: To make a recommendation to management on the areas that needs improvement. ................................................................... 56 5.3 Limitations ................................................................................................... 57 5.4 Recommendations ...................................................................................... 58 5.5 Recommendation for future research .......................................................... 59 5.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 59 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 61 Appendix A: Questionnaires ..................................................................................... 63 Appendix B: Certificate of language editing .............................................................. 70 Appendix C: Ethics approval of the project ............................................................... 72 Appendix D: Letter requesting permission to conduct research ............................... 74 Appendix E: Permission to conduct research from the college ................................ 80 vii List of figures Figure 2.1: Generic elements of supply chain management .................................... 13 Figure 4.1: Gender of the respondents ..................................................................... 42 Figure 4.2: Age of respondents ................................................................................ 42 Figure 4.3: Years of experience ............................................................................... 43 Figure 4.4: Are you in charge of approving requisitions? ......................................... 43 Figure 4.5: In the absence of the manager is there any another person in the unit who is delegated the function for procurement decisions? ....................................... 44 Figure 4.6: Highest qualification of the respondents ................................................ 44 Figure 4.7: Does no formal training or skills on the (Figure 4.6 and Table 4.2) have impact on the procurement process in your unit? ..................................................... 47 Figure 4.8: What policy does a TVET college use for procurement of goods and services? .................................................................................................................. 47 Figure 4.9: How well is the current procurement management process aligned to above selected policy? ............................................................................................. 48 Figure 4.10: As a unit manager do you have the direct authority to procure goods and service for your unit without any interference as outlined by the policy? ........... 49 Figure 4.11: Does the college procurement management unit have the capacity to implement the procurement plan of the college correctly? ....................................... 49 Figure 4.12: Is the procurement management unit able to deliver goods and services at the right time, right quality, right quantity and price as outlined in the procurement management plan?................................................................................................... 50 Figure 4.13: In which area did the procurement management process fail? ............ 51 Figure 4.14: Do you think lack of skills and knowledge are contributing factors towards rendering poor service delivery in the Supply Chain Management? ........... 52 viii List of tables Table 3.1: Research Population ............................................................................... 34 Table 3.2: Data collection procedure ........................................................................ 36 Table 3.3: Reliability results ..................................................................................... 37 Table 3.4: Validity estimates .................................................................................... 38 Table 4.1: Formal training ........................................................................................ 45 Table 4.2: What are areas of challenges in procurement management process for unit managers? ........................................................................................................ 51 Definition of keywords Acronyms Full names BBBEE Broad Base Black Economic Empowerment CFO Chief Financial Officer CIPS Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply DHET Department of Higher Education and Training HEI Higher Education Institutes PBP Procurement Best Practices PFMA Public Finance Management Act SCM Supply Chain Management SMME Small Medium Micro Enterprise SRM Supplier Relationship Management TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training UNISA University of South Africa ix Chapter 1: Overview of the study 1.1 Introduction Public or private organisations require goods such as raw material (machinery and equipment); and services like repairs, maintenance, and telecommunications to meet their business objectives. These goods and services should be at specific intervals in the correct form for an organisation to perform its activities efficiently and effectively. Hugo et al. (2002) describe the objective of successful purchasing as procuring the correct requirements in the right quantities, at the right time and at the right price, from the right source with delivery at the right price. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2011) also stated that, in the education sector, the focus of Supply Chain Management (SCM) is to streamline the chain through which teaching materials should be delivered to students; while in the health sector the focus could be more on logistics and the effective movement of goods and services in and out of the hospital. The Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2011) explains that it is important for an organisation to have proper procurement policies and procedures to ensure that organisations function effectively and efficiently. All role players that take part in the policies and procedures must be well informed on how their roles and responsibilities affects the well-functioning of an organisation. Their roles and responsibilities and the impact they have, to ensure a well-functioning organisation (Ambe & Badenhorst- Weiss, 2011) The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), has introduced a SCM policy in all public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in South Africa, to streamline procurement of goods and services uniform. This policy has requirements that need to be adhered to when procuring goods or services. The general feelings within the college are that there are gaps and limitations in the procurement management process of goods and services. It is therefore, imperative to examine the colleges’ procurement management process with regard to procurement of goods and services to get a better understanding and the experiences of the role players in the procurement management process. Furthermore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of procurement 1 management process for unit managers in Taletso TVET College. The study also assesses how the procurement management process is being applied using unit managers as officials. The unit managers are central to the procurement management process, as well as ensuring that their respective units meet the set objective. 1.2 Background to the study Taletso TVET College is a higher education institution that operates in the North West Province. It has three campuses in three different towns within the North West Province. These campuses are Mafikeng, Lichtenberg and Lehurutse and are surrounded by rural villages. The institution has the potential to uplift the socio- economic status of the people within the province, especially in the surrounding rural villages. To date, all public organisations are required by section 217 of the 1996 constitution to acquire goods and services in a manner that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. Dlamini & Ambe (2012) stated that procurement in public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are required to conform with cooperative governance even though they are autonomous. Dlamini & Ambe (2012) also stated that public HEIs are also accountable to the public as they are mostly funded by public funds. Hence they are ethically responsible for the socio- economic needs of the country (Dlamini & Ambe, 2012). Dlamini & Ambe (2013) indicated that upon analysis of best procurement practices in the University of South Africa (UNISA), good, procurement practices ensures the reduction of wasteful activities, streamlines operations and creates value chains for sustainable competitive advantage. However, despite numerous recommendations about the benefits associated with the adoption of the procurement best practices, some of organisations in the HEI still find their implementation and continuous sustainability a challenge. Dlamini & Ambe (2013) further states that HEIs are currently faced with diverse challenges in delivering goods and services to their clients at the right place, the right time and at the right price. There is an opinion that Institutions of higher education in South Africa, particularly Public TVET Colleges, are faced with the challenge of change management from how colleges were managed, to a transition where 2 colleges are now managed by standardised supply chain management policy in all public TVET Colleges. This process has not been clearly introduced to stakeholders in colleges. Some colleges are showing signs of reluctance to implement this policy. Mofokeng & Luke (2014) indicated that proper procurement management practices in public entities will lead to better public service delivery, reduction in resource waste and increased public wealth. However, the terms ‘purchasing’, ‘procurement’, and ‘supply management’ are used interchangeably by researchers while, (Mofokeng & Luke,2014) make a distinction between the terms. Schapper et al. (2006) defined procurement as a series of activities necessary for the timely acquisition of goods and services, to satisfy user requirements and fulfil organisational goals. Schapper et al. (2006) further stated that procurement activities should be directly linked to organisational goals, management plans, and stakeholders’ expectations. Also that procurement thus seeks to acquire high-quality goods and services to satisfy customer requirements, efficiently and cost-effectively. In that regard, the study will evaluate how unit managers are achieving their respective goals which are all directed to the overall organisational goal. Mofokeng & Luke (2014) also indicated that public entities do not appear to recognise the potential that Information Technology (IT) provides, as they do not adequately use it to optimise their processes. Technology is not recognised as a strategic tool. Mofokeng & Luke (2014) further explained that suitable IT solutions will contribute to improved productivity, performance and service delivery; while Dlamini & Ambe (2012) explained further that the relationship between public procurement policies and procurement best practices (PBPs) in HEIs is inevitable. HEIs in South Africa play a crucial role in contributing to the economic, social and environmental development of the country. The evaluation of the procurement management process is very important as it may assist senior management of Taletso TVET College to identify problem areas in the procurement management process. As a result, the findings may depict the appropriate recommendations to the procurement process that will be simple, clear and attainable by all the role players. They can also suggest relevant suggestions for 3 improvement on areas of concern that will possibly enhance the effectiveness of the college and enable it to gain a competitive advantage. Taletso TVET College adopted and implemented the Supply chain management policy in 2015. However, there is still opinion that there is resistance from role players, especially unit managers, in the implementation of the Procurement management policy. The policy requires the institution to centralise their procurement. It is therefore the reason why unit managers are not allowed to procure goods and services, but to submit their respective requisitions to the supply chain management office. The SCM office then carries out the procurement process to fulfil every requisition submitted or needs identified, by following the supply chain management policy. This process requires different role players and compliance before goods or services are delivered as required within the time frame, budget and in correct quantities. These are among others the variety of challenges along the way of procuring goods and services for unit managers, which have a detrimental effect on the operations of units in an organisation. Taletso TVET College is not subjected to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), it is therefore why the study aims at establishing the effectiveness of the current procurement management process by unit managers in Taletso TVET College. It is also important that this study also investigate the level of influence that the procurement management process has towards the roles and responsibilities of unit managers in achieving the organisational objectives of Taletso TVET College. 1.3 Problem statement There is an opinion that the college is experiencing inefficiency in delivering teaching and learning to the students as expected, which is caused by relevant resources being unavailable on time, or which at times do not arrive at all. This has caused low morale amongst both the lecturers and students. College senior management is always found wanting by students, labour union and some of the service providers which is generally relating to ineffective procurement of goods and services. As a result, the college cannot operate well and deliver on its promise to the college 4 community at large. During the past year the students has caused disruption to the classes demanding that some of their needs like academic books, learning material, maintenance and repair of the classroom facilities be attended to urgently. The problem being investigated by this study will focus on how effective unit managers are in the application of the procurement management process in Taletso TVET College. The study will investigate the practices and limitations in the procurement management process so that wasteful activities in college operations are eliminated and suitable value chains are created in the procurement of goods and services. 1.4 Aim and objective of the study The main aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of procurement management process for unit managers at Taletso TVET College. The objectives of this study are:  Determine the effectiveness of the procurement management process at Taletso TVET College.  Investigate the challenges impeding the unit managers with regard to procurement process in the college and how to improve the processes to gain a competitive advantage.  Determine the role of unit managers in the procurement of goods and services for their respective units.  Make recommendations to management on the areas that needs improvement. 1.5 Research questions The research questions derived from the objectives are:  How effective is procurement management process at Taletso TVET College?  What are the challenges impeding the unit managers with regard to procurement process in the college?  What role do unit managers play to enforce the application of the procurement management process to source goods and services? 5  What are the areas that need improvement to advance the implementation and utilisation of the procurement management process in Taletso TVET College? 1.6 Importance of the study Taletso TVET college is experiencing challenges in the process of procurement of goods and services, which hinders the daily operation of the college. Therefore, the study is being undertaken to assist senior management in the college in closing the gaps and addressing the limitations in the procurement management process which ultimately will benefit the whole college community. Findings of this study will address inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of not implementing or following a proper procurement management policy and process. The analysis of the procurement management process has the potential to suggest a possible solution to the challenges identified in the current procurement process at the college and come up with a revised policy and procedures that would be detailed, accurate, clear, and simple. The establishment of SCM within Government departments was an attempt to improve and expedite the procurement of goods and services in order to deliver quality services. According to the National Treasury Policy Strategy (2003:4), the SCM is an integral part of Financial Management that seeks to introduce internationally accepted best practice principles whilst at the same time addressing Government’s preferential procurement policy objectives. The functions of SCM are bound by the idea of improving service delivery, especially in respect to the input requirements of any organisation. If this function is performed efficiently and effectively, it will serve the fundamental objective of an organisation, which is to satisfy the needs of the communities that it served. 1.7 Demarcation and assumptions of the study Demarcation and assumptions of this research is based on the unit managers in Taletso TVET College. Demarcation of this study will be focusing specifically on the unit managers of Taletso TVET College. The college is made up of three academic 6 divisions, Finance, and Corporate Services. In all of these 3 academic divisions, there are unit managers. All unit managers will be targeted in this study to analyse the impact of procurement management for each unit. The community college has various role players such as support staff, lecturers, students, suppliers and provincial government departments. Taletso TVET College has three campuses where delivery of teaching and learning takes place, and a central office where senior management and middle managers are based. The study is aimed at the encouragement of unit managers to be involved or directly impacted by procurement management process. The study will focus on the procurement management process in the whole college. 1.7.2 Assumptions The assumptions are influenced by the opinion on procurement management in the college. The study is based on the following assumptions:-  It is assumed that there is lack of planning by the unit managers in procurement of goods and services.  There is assumption that currently procurement management process is poor and not understood.  It is assumed that the fundamentals of the procurement management process and the requirements of the policy are compromised.  It is assumed that there is lack of communication between role players. Less information is provided due to time constraints and this might have an impact in service providers meeting the required date of delivery of the goods or services, also compromising the quality of the goods or services in the process.  It is assumed that the solution to the problem of the study will have a positive influence in addressing even problems not included in the study. 7 1.8 Research data and methodology The study adopts a combined approach of qualitative and quantitative research methodology. Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research methods assists in getting a view from both measurable and analytical approaches. Sandelowski (2001) when stating that in qualitative researches, numbers can also be used to complement the narratives accurately captures this. Within the research questions, there are those that require straight closed-ended responses that reflect the quantitative nature, and those that require the participants to give narrative responses reflecting the qualitative side. 1.8.1 Research design The study will use applied empirical research undertaken through a well-structured questionnaire that seeks to answer the formulated research questions. 1.8.2 Study Area Taletso TVET College in the North West Province is the focus area for the study. 1.8.3 Population The total population for the study is 43 Unit managers in Taletso TVET College who are based in at four sites of delivery within the college. 1.8.4 Sample size The target population in this study consist of 43 officials from Taletso TVET College, with three campuses. The population consists of 22 senior lecturers, 9 middle managers, 9 heads of departments and 3 Campus managers. 1.8.5 Data Collection Data has been collected using a semi-structured questionnaire which will be designed to assist in answering the research questions.This questionnaire will have both close-ended and open-ended questions with nominal measures to distinguish various levels of responsibility i.e. senior managers, middle managers and operational staff. The questionnaire was distributed by handing them out to users. 8 1.8.6 Data analysis After collection, the data was converted into information through the utilisation of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical analysis tool. The study will also capture the qualitative data in the form of words (Welman et al., 2005), and the coding of text data by converting words to numbers or symbols. Data was captured in a suitable format and analysed using this tool to give a clearer understanding of the results. 1.9 Ethical consideration Approval and consent from North West University and the College was obtained before data is collected. Falsifying data, and/or duplication of work done by another researcher during the research process can cause ethical problems; therefore false declarations was avoided, except for secondary sources which have been acknowledged, as listed in the bibliography. The researcher sought approval first from the college principal before contacting the participants in the study. The respondents were informed about the purpose of this study and their confidentiality if they take part in the study. A declaration form obtained from the graduate school were available to the respondents for confirming the study as well as the ethics of the researcher. Participants were encouraged to take part in the study and also the results or findings of the study could be made available to the respondents or interest parties on request. Therefore, all the ethical consideration were adhered to for completion of the study. 1.10 Proposed layout of the study The research layout goes according to the following approach:  Chapter one (Overview of the study) provides background of the study, problems that have necessitated the study to be conducted, and broadly what the study aims to achieve.  Chapter two (Literature review) covers the theoretical aspects of the topic of Procurement Management, its process and steps, as well as legislation and policies prescripts. This is where relevant literature is reviewed to assist in gaining better understanding; 9  Chapter three covers the research design and methodology which were followed in conducting the research.  Chapter four (Interpretation) is about presentation of the findings of research and interpreting them with further discussions.  Chapter five (Discussion, Conclusion, Summary, and Recommendation) constitutes the final chapter that essentially summarizes the study, using the research results and relevant literature to respond to the research questions that were raised, and also using these to come to recommendations and conclusions. This chapter is concluded by suggesting areas for future research based on the limitations that were identified. 1.11 Conclusion Taletso TVET College is experiencing inefficiency in support of delivering teaching and learning to the students which is caused by lack of availability of relevant resources on time. As a consequence, the college cannot operate well and deliver on its objectives as expected. The college adopted a Supply Chain Management policy in 2015, which is not properly implemented as there is resistance from unit managers. The policy requires the institution to centralise their procurement; therefore, unit managers are not allowed to procure goods and services, but to submit their respective requisitions to the supply chain management office. This paper will centre its argument based on the literature and Supply Chain Management policy that will be drawn related to proper implementation of supply chain management and the effectiveness of procurement management process for unit managers at Taletso TVET College. The next chapter, which is chapter two, will explore the relevant literature related to this study. The literature review will focus on concepts, philosophies and theories to be followed in order to ensure effective public procurement. 10 Chapter: 2 Literature review 2.1 Introduction This chapter focuses on the Literature Review of the subject in relation to procurement of goods and services at Taletso TVET College. Marshall & Rossman (2011:77) cited Mammen et al. (2017) defined literature review as a thoughtful and insightful discussion of related literature built in a logical framework for the research, and locating it within a tradition of enquiry and a context of related studies. In other words, Henning et al. (2004:27) explain that it relates a study to the larger, on-going dialogue in the literature, filling gaps and spreading previous studies. In this chapter, an in-depth review of literature relating to the topic will be presented. Both primary and secondary sources, which comprise books, professional journals, specialist’s reports, the Constitution of South Africa, newspapers and magazines will be thoroughly discussed in the context of the topic of public procurement management. Study of the literature will assist with the objective of this study, which is to discover whether the unit managers at the college are adhering to the procurement management process as laid out in the college’s policy and also identify challenges they are faced with in relation to procurement of goods and service for their respective units. 2.2 Overview of the supply chain management Supply chain management (SCM), without any doubt, plays a vital role in both the private and public sector environments, in ensuring that organisations function seamlessly and ultimately attain their goals and objectives. Procurement management in higher education institutions is inevitable as it has a key role in creating a competitive advantage. Mthembu (2009:9) stated that public HEIs in South Africa, as organs of state which are autonomous establishments, have to conduct their procurement as entrenched in the Constitution. Even though public HEIs are autonomous institutions, they are required to conform to cooperative governance. Taletso TVET College has a governance structure which is the council, and its responsibilities are to ensure that the strategic objectives of the college are met as planned, and also senior management account to it in terms of the financial 11 management and procurement in the college. Furthermore, Bailey et al. (2011:37) supported this statement by concluding that HEI’s are also accountable to the public as they are mostly funded by public funds; hence they have the moral responsibility for the social and economic needs of the country. According to Burt, Petcavage & Pinkerton (2010), procurement function has always been accountable for a huge portion of the total cost that organisations incur and held responsible for most of the quality and outages issues. Most importantly, all organs of states are required to acquire goods and services in a manner that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective, as indicated in section 217 of the 1996 Constitution. This logically means that procurement function is the main portion of the supply chain management. Taletso TVET College, just like any other public college, has to adhere to public procurement prescripts as laid out in the college SCM policy; however the college is exempted from the prescripts of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012a) explained public procurement as a function whereby public sector organisations acquire goods, services, and development and construction projects from suppliers in the local and international market, subject to the general principles of fairness, equitability, transparency, competitiveness, and cost-effectiveness. It includes many activities that support the service delivery of government entities, ranging from routine items to complex development and construction projects that require proper planning and a huge budget. It also directly or indirectly supports government’s social and political aims as set out by the political party in government. Naude, Ambe & Kling (2013) furthermore supported Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012,a) by indicating that the concept of procurement has evolved rapidly during the last decade. Concepts and approaches such as supply management, strategic sourcing, and SCM now exist. Not only are public procurement officials faced with these new developments when conducting business with the private sector, but they are also under pressure to embrace these new approaches. Institutions in the public sector are expected to manage their finances efficiently, particularly in procurement, which is evident from the Public Finance Management Act, preferential procurement regulations, and the SCM framework. Even though public HEIs are autonomous 12 institutions, they are required to conform to cooperative governance. The Public TVET colleges are expected to develop and implement an SCM policy that is not inferior to the National Treasury regulation. They are also accountable to the public as they are mostly funded by public funds; hence they have the moral responsibility for the social and economic needs of the country (Bailey, Cloete, Pillay, Bunting, & Maassen, 2011). Figure 2.1 below shows the generic elements of supply chain management for government entities which are the framework of the procurement Supply Chain Management policy in the South African public sector. Figure 2.1: Generic elements of supply chain management Source: National Treasury (2004, p. 10). 13 The college SCM policy has been aligned with the national treasury on procurement framework mentioned above. The process begins with demand planning which is the most important part of procurement as it ensures that for any product or service there is a need which is linked to the strategic plan of the organisation. Then there should be detailed specifications that need to be developed in consultation with the respective end user. Thereafter a market can now be approached to acquire the requested products or services. All SCM processes are interlinked to ensure that there is value for money and easy flow of duties and responsibilities. 2.1.1 Demand management Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012a) indicated that need assessment (demand) comes before the implementation of other elements of SCM, therefore it is important that the demand is well-planned and documented to ensure that other elements run smoothly. The objective is to ensure that the goods and services delivered comply with specifications of the identified needs. It is regarded as the first step in the procurement of goods and services. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012,a) also indicated that demand management may be defined as ensuring an optimum inflow for quantity, quality, locality (place) and timeliness into the supply chain. Demand management is the beginning of the supply chain process and as a result, it is crucial in a sense that the correct goods or services are being procured from the right supplier, at the right price, with the correct quantity and delivered at the correct place and time. The following process should be followed at all times. DHET SCM policy (2013:21) directs that prior to the invitation of a bid or quotation, planning is conducted for the realistic estimation of the costs for which the invitation for a bid or quotation is to be made. The preference point system to be used as well as the criteria for evaluation must be determined; also the deliverables and /or performance indicators in terms of which a person awarded a contract will be assessed. A needs assessment must be done to ensure that goods or services are acquired in order to deliver the agreed requirement. Specifications must be precisely determined to promote uniformity. A critical aspect must be consideration for elimination of wasteful expenditure at all times. These are aspects of DHET Supply Chain Management policies that need to be considered; 14  All requirements must be linked to the approved budget.  Specifications must be determined beforehand in conjunction with the end user.  The need must form part of the strategic plan of the College.  The frequency of requirements must be specified.  Order quantity must be economical.  Delivery times must be specified.  Is there a real need for the goods or services?  Does the need form part of strategic objectives of the College?  Is the method determined how the need will be fulfilled?  Has past experience been analysed? 2.1.2 Acquisition management Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) defined acquisition management as the management of procurement. Different government entities reach agreement on the manner in which the market should be approached, establish the total cost of ownership of assets, ensure that bid documentations are complete including evaluation criteria, evaluate bids in accordance with published criteria and ensure that proper contract documents are signed (Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss, 2012). According to Malinga (2007), acquisition management is where preferential procurement policy objectives are identified that could be met through a specific contract. Malinga (2007) further explained that it is where the strategy is identified of how the market has to be approached. Malinga (2007) further indicated that depreciation rates should also be determined and the total cost of ownership should be used, that is, the life-cycle cost and the inventory-carrying cost to assist in the decision-making.In conclusion of acquisition management, Malinga (2007) emphasised that the bid documents should be compiled, evaluated, and the recommendations must be tabled for the accounting officer. 2.1.3 Logistics management Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012a) described logistics as the process of strategically managing the acquisition, transportation, and storage of inventory 15 throughout the organisation and its marketing channel in such a way that profitability is maximised through the cost-effective fulfilment of orders. Ambe & Badenhorst- Weiss (2012a) also indicated that it forms part of the supply chain process that implements, controls and ensures an effective flow of stored goods and services (Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss, 2012a), which the National Treasury (2015) supply chain management policy review attests to. Logistics management pertains, among others, to the coding of items, the setting of inventory levels, placing orders, receiving and distribution, stores or warehouse management, expediting orders, transport management, and vendor performance. This process is activated by the financial system to generate payments. The end-user is responsible for planning for the delivery of goods and services since it is the function of logistics management to ensure that the goods and services are available at the right time at the right place. Otherwise, all other items are to be distributed to the stores prior to deployment within the organisation. Stock items that have good lead times and stability of supply should not be held in stock. The minimum thresholds should be reduced accordingly (Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss, 2012). 2.1.4 Disposal management According to Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012), disposal management is getting rid of assets that are no longer required, including unserviceable, redundant or obsolete assets. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) further explained that due consideration to outdated planning; the creation of a database of redundant material; inspecting material for potential reuse; determining a disposal strategy; and executing the physical disposal process should be in place. The college has a disposal management plan in place which guides how all assets that are no longer needed by the college should be disposed. 2.1.5 Risk management Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) described risk as the unplanned or unforeseen outcomes of a decision or action, which could not be predicted as to when they will happen. Risk management is the provision of an effective system where risks are identified, taken into consideration, and an avoidance plan is put in place to mitigate 16 the risks. This includes the identification of risks case-by-case. Allocation of a risk to the party that is best suited to manage it. Acceptance of the cost of the risk, the management of the risk in a proactive manner and provision of adequate cover for residual risk as well as the duty of assigning relative risks to the contracting parties through clear and unambiguous contract documents (SAMDI, 2005). 2.1.6 Supply chain performance According to Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012), supply chain performance is defined as a monitoring process of establishing whether the proper processes have been applied and whether the desired objectives were attained. The South African Government’s national treasury has developed a reporting template that is used by provincial treasuries to monitor the SCM implementation process at the relevant municipalities. National Treasury (2015) noted that continuous improvement in the Supply Chain Performance, should be done by municipalities and they are expected to adopt the template to enhance their Supply Chain Performance. With reference to the SCM policy, government entities adapt the policy to suits their needs. Taletso TVET is also mandated to adapt the SCM policy and all the role players are executors in the implementation of SCM regulations and policies. Hence, the college has contracted a service provider to do internal auditing, and part of the function is to conduct supply chain management performance management. 2.3 Supply chain management (SCM) challenges Although this study is not to put the supply chain management policy framework under inquiry. it is, however, reasonable that there might be factors in the supply chain management policy which pose difficulty in the implementation process, hence the focus of this study is as mentioned above. Sandler (2011) identified challenges that come with the implementation process of a supply chain management policy framework. Sandler (2011) also stated that vacancy rates in the supply chain management units poses challenges to the implementation process. Sandler (2011) further indicated that the organisational structure of the supply chain management unit does not allow uniformity across departments. Lack of support from top management also hampers the implementation process (Sandler, 2011). 17 Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) articulated the challenges that impede supply chain management implementation in the South African public sector. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) further explained that compliance is one of the major challenges in the implementation of SCM as it affects other activities. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) indicated that non-compliance to SCM policy and regulation can be attributed to tendencies such as not utilising a competitive process for both quotations and bids, incorrect practice of the preference points system, lack of appropriate bid committees, use of unqualified suppliers, passing over bids for incorrect reasons, utilisation of the incorrect procurement process, incorrect utilisation of the limited bidding process, inadequate controls and procedures for the handlings of bids and lack of information on bid register. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) also stated that inadequate planning and linking demand to the budget is also one of the challenges to SCM implementation. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) explained that many government entities are still faced with improper planning and linking demand to budget, which may be attributed to inadequate skills and capacity. Training and workshops are vital for successful implementation (Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss, 2012). Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) further stated that there is also a lack of internal control and implementation of the risk mitigation procedures and this leads to fraud and corruption. Inadequate monitoring and evaluation are linked to poor control of the environment (Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss, 2012). Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) stated that appropriate structures with fully skilled and professional SCM personnel are the key to proper SCM implementation. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) concluded by stating those major challenges that hinder SCM implementation, which are noncompliance to SCM policy and regulations, lack of proper knowledge, skills and capabilities, inadequate planning and linking demand to the the budget, inadequate and inconsistent attention to risk management, inadequate monitoring and evaluation, lack of service agreement and irregularities in SCM. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) emphasised that these challenges with regard to the implementation of SCM in the South African public sector hinder proper implementation and execution of a framework that would enhance SCM. 18 Lambert, Cooper, & Pagh (1998) stated that challenges for the SCM are the identification of specific supply chain members, key processes that require integration and what management must do to successfully manage the supply chain. Lambert, Cooper, & Pagh (1998) emphasised that SCM framework incorporates the combination of the three closely interrelated elements: the structure of the supply chain, the supply chain business process and the supply chain management components (Lambert, Cooper & Pagh, 1998). The supply chain structure is the network of members and the links between members of the supply chain while the management components are the managerial variables by which the business process are integrated and managed across the stages (Lambert, Cooper & Pagh,1998). With reference to the above-mentioned literature, the implementation process of the supply chain management policy framework in the different departments encompasses three closely interrelated elements: 1) The supply chain network structure; 2) The supply chain business process and 3) the management components (Lambert, Cooper, & Pagh,1998). Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) concluded by stating that compliance to SCM policy and regulation, proper knowledge, skills and capabilities, adequate planning and linking demand to the budget, adequate and consistent risk management, adequate monitoring and evaluation, and proper service agreements would enhance SCM implementation. Sandler (2011) indicated that a step-by-step guide to implementing supply chain management policy framework must be provided in the organisation. Sandler (2011) also highlighted that extensive training programmes need to be implemented to capacitate all the role players in order to perform their duties and all generic structures provided should be expanded to deal with the all the functions of the supply chain management policy (Sandler, 2011). This study aims to identify which challenges are facing unit managers in the application of procurement management process in Taletso college. 19 2.3.1 Compliance and challenges to SCM in the public sector in South Africa According to Adam et al. (2012) cited Chatrchyan, S., Pauw et al. (2002), procurement regulations governing the public procurement area are important as they are aimed at equality of suppliers in the market and establishing a transparent process that ensures accountability of how public funds are utilised. Adam et al. (2012) emphasised that while public procurement and private procurement are different, regulations and procurement rules that apply in these sectors embody the essence of broader government policy that is intended to contribute to the greater good of the citizens. According to Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012), implementation of SCM and applicable legislation remains a challenge in the South African public sector. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2011) indicated that, despite the entire legislative and regulatory environment in public procurement management, which is aimed at improving public procurement practices, there are still some challenges, which affect the implementation and efficient practice of public procurement management in the public sector. 2.3.2 Corruption According to Pauw et al. (2002), both corruption and fraud take place on both small and large scales in public and private organisations. Furthermore, Pauw et al. (2002) explained that there are clerks who process fraudulent petty cash vouchers, or officials who inflate their subsistence and travel claims. On the other hand, there are suppliers who collude with officials to process fraudulent high-value transactions or who bribe officials to manipulate the tender process. According to Bolton (2008), corruption is harmful to the procurement process because it lessens the confidence that honest contractors and the public at large have in the government. Corruption leads to the elimination of competition for public contractors and lessens the government`s ability to obtain the best value for its money due to lack of competition from a large pool of suppliers. He further stated that corruption also hinders the accomplishment of other objectives in the procurement process including, for example, policy promotion and the fair treatment of suppliers. There are different forms of corruption such as bribery, fraud, nepotism, extortion, conflict of interest, 20 and embezzlement, collusion in procurement and tax immorality. All these should be uprooted in public and private sector procurement. This is emphasised by Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) that in the SCM process all parties in the SCM have to comply with ethical standards at all times. Actors of SCM should deal with each other on a basis of mutual trust and respect, and conduct their business in a fair and reasonable manner with integrity. Role-players connected with procurement particularly those dealing directly with suppliers or potential suppliers are required at all times. To distinguish and deal with conflicts of interest or the potential for such conflict. To deal with suppliers even-handedly. To ensure they do not compromise the standing of the state through receiving of gifts or hospitality from suppliers. To be conscientious in their use of public funds; and to provide all support in the removal of fraud and corruption. Most public entities concentrate on information and training surrounding this, but, as has been discussed previously, the possibility of corruption scares off many public procurement officials from approaching suppliers at all. The college senior management is required to ensure that all employees are accountable when using public funds and encourages openness and transparency in all financial activities. There is a whistleblowing platform where suspected corrupt conduct can be reported anonymously. The college has a guide in place on how to deal with corruption or suspected corruption in the form of reporting it anonymously to the accounting officer, and a follow-up is required. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2011) in their study identified the challenges, which are lack of proper knowledge. Skills and capacity. Non-compliance with supply chain policies, and regulations. Inadequate planning and poor linking of the demand to the budget. Accountability fraud and corruption. Inadequate monitoring and evaluation of supply chain management processes. Unethical behaviour. Too much decentralisation of the procurement system, and ineffectiveness of the black economic empowerment policy. Furthermore, McCarthy (2006) argued that there is a lack of capacity and knowledge by Supply Chain Management actors in the public sector to handle the procurement management processes effectively and efficiently, which leads to bad governance. Although there is a robust training undertaken by the South African government to train its officials and practitioners in public procurement 21 management, there is always a shortfall when it comes to implementation because it is always failing. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2011b) stressed that inadequate monitoring and evaluation in government entities are linked to the absence or the poor presence of a controlled environment within the public sector. Therefore, these entities are placed in a difficult position to give effect or to implement supply chain management as is required in terms of the policy and regulations. This is why, in the public sector, it is common practice to deviate from compliance because these processes go undetected or are not identified after the occurrence of an event. Business Day Report (2011) reported that procurement actors in the public sector spend millions of Rands in wasteful expenditure and as a result, most national and provincial department and entities encounter irregular or unauthorised, fruitless expenditures that breach the policies, laws, and regulations of the republic. Ambe & Budenhost-Weiss (2011) indicated that ethics and conflict of interest greatly affects supply chain management processes and their implementation whereby there is power wielded by chief financial officers but with lack of proper consultation with other senior officials in the public sector whilst there are standardised approaches towards supply chain and procurement management practices. According to Dhlamini et al. (2016) in their the findings, revealed that the causes which lead to non-compliance of public procurement management in the public sector related to issues of lack of theoretical knowledge and exposure of officials to the holistic nature of supply chain management processes. The findings indicate that interviewees in both departments reported a lack of techniques and sufficient skills to identify various elements of public procurement, thus leading to non-compliance with regulations amongst the officials in these departments. The following are some of the non-compliance findings that are common in SCM across South African government departments:  Lack of training and poorly trained officials.  Lack of monitoring and evaluation.  Lack of skills has an impact on monitoring. 22  Lack of strategies to implement 2.3.3 Lack of proper knowledge, skills, and capacity National Treasury (2005) clarified that to fully achieve SCM objectives, there should be support provided by provincial treasury in facilitating the development of appropriate training materials to government departments, municipalities and municipal entities. However, the shortage of skills has been a recurrent theme in public discussion and action needs to be taken across all government entities. Many government departments, including Taletso TVET College, are lacking the skilled personnel to implement SCM properly. Dlamini & Ambe (2013) supported this statement when they say that procurement staff at UNISA receive general training. To be employed in the UNISA procurement department, senior management positions require a professional formal qualification and sound experience while junior staff members are required to have completed a minimum qualification of at least Matric and/or a certificate programme in procurement. UNISA subsidises studies for all its employees and offers internships, which is a commendable effort towards promoting the employment of procurement best practices. From the above discussion, it is evident that institutions of higher education like UNISA are making a lot of effort to ensure that staff employed, and not only those in procurement, receive proper training. Taletso TVET College’s staff development, particularly for unit managers, can be evaluated to measure the level of competencies and training thereof. This will assist in identifying the level of competencies of unit managers involved in procurement management process of the College. Antonites & Truter (2010) further emphasised the importance of enhancing the skills, knowledge, and experience of officials working in the procurement process, and conducting relevant training interventions to improve productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. A critical factor to improve the current situation would be to put in place better communication structures with SMMEs, including training of SMMEs. Although the economic development departments within the various municipalities should take responsibility for this, it might be a good idea to start up a separate training centre, which can be used for public workshops and training for SMMEs in the field of procurement as well as generic business and management training. 23 2.3.4 Inadequate planning and linking demand to the budget Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2011b) acknowledged that a major challenge to SCM implementation is inadequate planning. Cost-effective procurement depends on specialist skills to ensure that procurement requirements are reliably determined, suitable contract strategies are established, contracts are well managed and there are opportunities to secure the best transaction at the right time and at the right price. Xhati (2015) also stressed this finding in her study conducted in the Eastern Cape Province that the demand management process is integral to any procurement process as it defines the decision-making process that allows departments to procure goods and services at the right time, at the right place and at the right cost. However, many government entities are still faced with the challenges of proper planning and linking demand to budget. Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2011b) acknowledged that training and workshops were vital for successful implementation of SCM in the public sector. Proper planning will eliminate under-expenditure and over-expenditure by the unit managers, which is regarded as financial misconduct in government. According to Micheline et al. (2013), demand management is the first stage of the SCM process and involves evaluating the needs of the end-user through market and commodity analysis. It is also the stage at which the specifications are determined and potential suppliers are identified to ensure that the requests are fulfilled on time and in accordance. Organisations should have a plan in place in terms of what they need to achieve and that plan must be linked to the operational plan and the budget. However, despite the SCM processes that were intended to boost service delivery, many government departments in the public sector still do not implement efficient and effective processes while procuring. According to Mofokeng & Luke (2014), inappropriate planning, under-spending of budgets and ineffective procurement form part of the root causes of poor service delivery, as this restricts the movement of resources to the right places. 24 2.3.4 Inadequate and inconsistency of risk management/ irregularities in SCM According to Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012), inadequate and inconsistency of risk management/irregularities impede the implementation of SCM in the public sector. According to Boateng (2008), a lack of understanding regarding the concept of SCM and its complicated link to long-term quality service delivery, human capital development, and associated socio-economic growth, may be the root cause of problems plaguing SCM in government. A simplified procurement methodology needs to be developed and put in place to make procurement simpler and yet effective. 2.3.5 Ineffectiveness of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B- BBEE) Currently, the government has introduced the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act of 46 (2013.) B-BBEE is designed to ensure that SMME's (Small Medium and Micro Enterprises) and previously disadvantaged people take part in the economy. The government is providing this by ensuring that a broad representation of disadvantaged people can benefit from business opportunities in government. Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment means the economic empowerment of all the black people including women, workers, youth, people with disabilities and people living in rural areas through diverse but integrated socio-economic strategies. Taletso TVET College has given opportunities to local SMME’s by awarding business to small contractors or businesses and has boosted the local economy significantly in reducing poverty and creating jobs for young people. The college has a record of accomplishment that supports the development of a locally based company that is mainly owned by Black people. Dlamini & Ambe (2013) emphasised the importance of Broad-based black economic empowerment, which cannot be overlooked in the area of procurement in South Africa. HE (Higher Education) institutions, especially UNISA (University of South Africa), have prioritised and developed BBBEE procurement practices that can be adopted by HEs in South Africa. Structilia (2011) cited Baloyi & Bekker (2011) disagreed with the application of BBBEE policy by stating that there are conflicting perceptions among consultants regarding procurement strategies for different types of project. There is, however, an observed improvement in HDI shareholding 25 patterns. Structilia (2011) cited Baloyi & Bekker (2011) further pointed out that there is a limited structured approach regarding the matters of HDI integration into governance structures such as equity committees within consultants. Therefore, it is recommended that capacity-building programmes must be streamlined to focus on preferential procurement requirements. 2.3.6 Inadequate monitoring and evaluation of SCM Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) found that monitoring and evaluation is an important aspect of SCM implementation. Inadequate monitoring and evaluation are related to the lack of or the poor presence of a controlled environment. The government entities are faced with a difficult situation to be able to give effective service or implement SCM as required by the policy. The departments concerned must have the employees to monitor and evaluate various projects undertaken on behalf of the department by the service providers. This challenge can be attributed to many factors such as poor training of bid members, lack of capacity and poor planning. Taletso TVET College has bid committees in place, which play a part in the tendering process. Non-compliance with procurement policies can best rely on the findings from external auditors as they are independent and can make an opinion which must be attended to by senior management. The Auditor General of South Africa has audited Taletso TVET College for the first time since the college’s establishment and this will give a good picture in terms of compliance and financial risk management associated with the operation of the college. 2.3.7 Procurement best practices in higher education (HE) Ambe & Dlamini (2013) found that institutions’ procurement focuses more on a transactional relationship which is still responsive to requests, notwithstanding the knowledge and availability of the procurement best practices. Ambe & Dlamini (2013) also stated that the value system needs improvement towards the cost of ownership, shared vision and that importance should be placed on value for money rather than purchase price. Ambe & Dlamini (2013) also highlighted that most organisations have not fully understood the opportunities offered by the adoption of procurement best practices. The enhancement of procurement best practices may contribute to the competitive advantage. 26 Raga (2008) proposed that normative criteria are values, attitudes and aptitudes suitable for the establishment of basic criteria for effective, efficient and economic public sector procurement in the South African local spheres of government. Raga (2008) indicatesd that integrity, transparency, publicity, accountability, equity, non- discrimination, quality, professionalism, reliability and general interest are some of the values for establishing an effective and efficient public sector procurement, whilst the attitudes are transparency, responsibility, quality awareness, legibility, clarity, simplicity, Inquisitiveness, adaptability, listening ability, involvement, speed, effectiveness and efficiency (Raga, 2008). Raga (2008) also stated that aptitudes for the effective and efficient establishment of public sector procurement are knowledge, leadership qualities, communications skills, social skills, independence, ability to use experience, analytical skills and sense of renewal. Those above mentioned proposed criteria create a point of departure for the implementation, enhancement and maintenance of an acceptable basis for effective, efficient and economical public sector procurement in the South African sphere of local government (Raga, 2008). Goods and services assist unit managers to achieve their annual targets. Without goods and services, organisations cannot meet their strategic objectives; for instance, the Taletso TVET College could not deliver quality graduates, and even quality teaching and learning will be compromised. All public procurement processes should take place in a competitive, transparent and fair manner. Therefore, procurement of goods that is not in line with the mandate of the organisation is classified as unauthorized expenditure, and there are consequences for that. Taletso TVET College should procure only items that could directly or indirectly link to delivering of teaching and learning, which is its primary mandate. Raga (2008) concluded by indicating that an ethical code of conduct, as well as appropriate training, can make a difference in the ethical predicaments of the public officials particularly with regards to the public sector procurement management. Walker & Brammer (2012) explored the extent to which sustainable procurement policy is being practised and whether different aspects of procurement are affected by e-procurement and communication with suppliers. In the study, Walker & Brammer (2012) found that communication is a tool that can positively relate to environmental supply practices, labour, health and safety, and that those public 27 sector organisations that communicate more with suppliers have a greater impact on the aspects of sustainable development. This finding suggested that communication and collaboration in supply chains benefit environmental supply chains. The communication activities such as ‘meet the buyer’ events held by public sector organisations may enable engagement with local suppliers (Walker & Brammer, 2012). Greater communication between buyers and suppliers will facilitate the sustainable procurement by enhancing information exchange, collaboration and therefore the ability of buyers to implement sustainable procurement policies in their supply relationship. Furthermore, Walker & Brammer (2012) also found that the use of information technology in procurement activities are positively associated with environmental and labour health and safety aspects of sustainable procurement. However, the study by Walker & Brammer (2012) suggested that communication between all role players in the SCM and information technology should be positively associated with features of sustainable procurement. There are challenges hindering the smooth procurement of goods and services for unit managers at Taletso TVET college. It is, therefore, why this study is aimed at identifying the challenges impacting the procurement process and areas of development to ensure smooth procurement process as the college is also experiencing challenges in the procurement of goods and services. Munzhedzi (2016) explored the relationship between procurement in the public sector and corruption. The paper has exposed that public procurement is vulnerable to corruption, maladministration and mismanagement (Munzhedzi, 2016). The article indicated that several reasons why public procurement is vulnerable to the above are political interference, the appointment of inexperienced and unqualified officials and contractors, qualified technical and professional experts who are not members of the bid committee, ignorance, lack of knowledge or capacity, noncompliance and unethical behaviour (Munzhedzi, 2016). However, Munzhedzi (2016) indicated that punishment for not complying with legislation framework must be ensured by the government to address the above challenges, including corruption. Eyaa & Oluka (2011) also indicated that familiarity with procurement regulations is a significant predictor of compliance with procurement regulations. That is, as the procurement role players get more familiar with the regulations, the more they will 28 comply. Therefore this study will also find out if Taletso TVET college role players in the procurement process are acquainted with the procurement regulations. Dlamini (2016) examined whether South African comprehensive universities conduct procurement according to best practices. Dlamini (2016) indicated that South African comprehensive universities are faced with challenges on procurement best practices and therefore do not conduct procurement according to best practices. Furthermore, Dlamini (2016) indicated that unskilled and uneducated procurement staff and management, lack of understanding of senior management on the value and impact of procurement, and inflexible procurement policies and regulations are the challenges delaying the implementation of best practices. The study will also assess if best procurement practices are conducted for good implementation of the procurement process. Amemba, Nyaboke, Osoro, & Mburu (2013) explored challenges facing public procurement performance in Kenyan public sector and found that,one of the major challenges facing procurement is the adoption of technology in the procurement process, and the buyer-supplier relationship, which is handled on a transactional basis rather than partnership. This study will determine the effectiveness of the procurement management process at Taletso TVET College. It will investigate if the challenges mentioned in the literature above are similar to the challenges impeding the unit managers with regard to procurement process in the college. The roles of the unit managers in the procurement of goods and services will also be identified. Also areas that need improvement to advance the implementation and utilisation of the procurement management process in Taletso TVET College will be identified. 2.4 Conclusion In conclusion, the above literature indicates that a step-by-step guide to implementing supply chain management policy framework must be provided. Also, that extensive training programmes need to be implemented to capacitate all the role players in order to perform their duties, and all generic structures provided should be expanded to deal with the all the functions of the supply chain management policy 29 (Sandler, 2011). Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss (2012) emphasised that compliance with SCM policy and regulation by ensuring that proper knowledge by all SCM actors who have the skills and capabilities, adequate planning and linking demand to the budget, acceptable and reliable risk management, acceptable monitoring and evaluation, and a proper service agreement would improve SCM implementation. Lambert, Cooper, & Pagh (1998) indicated that the implementation process of the supply chain management policy framework in the different departments encompasses three closely interrelated elements: 1) The supply chain network structure; 2) The supply chain business process and 3) the management components. For proper implementation of supply chain management policy, the combination of the three closely inter-related elements is imperative. Raga (2008) concluded by emphasising that an ethical code of conduct is necessary to guide the public officials in rendering their service to the community as well as to safeguard themselves against unfair demands by the community which can also lead to the promotion of the positive image of the public sector. Munzhedzi (2016) indicated that political interference, the appointment of inexperienced and unqualified officials and contractors, qualified technical and professional experts who are not members of the bid committee, ignorance, lack of knowledge, capacity, noncompliance and unethical behaviour are several reasons why public procurement is exposed, while Eyaa & Oluka (2011) highlighted that the more role players get familiar with the procurement regulations, the more they will be compliant. Walker & Brammer (2012) highlighted that the public sector organisations that communicate more with suppliers have a greater impact on the aspects of sustainable development, and that communication and collaboration in supply chains benefit environmental supply chains, whilst Dlamini (2016) indicated that unskilled and uneducated procurement staff and management, lack of understanding of senior management on the value and impact of procurement, inflexible procurement policies and regulations are the challenges delaying the implementation of best practices. 30 The above-mentioned literature highlighted the challenges that impede the effectiveness of the procurement process in the public sector which also relates to Taletso TVET College. It also highlighted the importance of communication of the role players on the effectiveness and efficient establishment of public sector procurement. The literature also highlighted challenges impeding the proper implementation of the supply chain management policy. Literature above highlighted challenges impeding procurement process in the public sector and presented recommendations, but this study will identify similar characteristics from the response of the questionnaire to establish the effectiveness of the current procurement management process by unit managers in Taletso TVET College. The next Chapter presents the research methodologies, which the researcher used to address the problem under investigation. Instruments such as questionnaire, data collection techniques and so forth were discussed. 31 Chapter: 3 Research design and methodology 3.1 Introduction This chapter presents the research design and methodology that was be employed in this study. The research design and methodology articulate how the research plan and process of the study should be implemented (Quilan, 2011). Furthermore, this chapter will show how the researcher applied the research design and method in order to achieve the aim and objectives stated in Chapter 1. 3.2 Research paradigm and design Cooper & Schindler (2006) defined research design as the blueprint for the collection, measurement and data analysis. Cooper & Schindler (2006) further stated that research design outlines the plan and structure of investigation in order to address the research questions of the study. The research paradigm and design for this study was a mixed method, which employs the combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. A qualitative approach was used to analyse the open-ended questions while quantitative approach was used for closed questions. Quantitative approach is defined by Maree (2012) as a method of gathering data that is organised and analysed in order to get the findings. Groebner, Shannon, Fry & Smith (2005:252) also stated that quantitative research considers numbers, symbols, measurements and statistics in outlining key variables for the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; however, measurements applied must be objective, quantitative and statistically valid. Neuman (2011:165) defined quantitative approach as case study research which is the approach usually associated with the social constructivist paradigm which emphasises the socially constructed nature of reality. A quantitative and qualitative methodology approach appears to be an appropriate method to conduct this study, as the approach would assist in understanding the impact that the procurement management process has on service delivery that affects unit managers directly. A quantitative as well as a limited qualitative approach was followed. Both approaches were followed to meet the research objectives as set out in Chapter 1. Only three open-ended questions were based on the qualitative approach in the interest of saving the respondents’ time, taking into consideration the nature of their busy work schedules. 32 The survey instrument used was a questionnaire, because it is an inexpensive instrument that is easy to administer, quick to deliver, and the respondents can complete it during their free time. Ethical clearance will be obtained from the Ethics committee of the North-West University’s Support Office. Data was collected on how the current procurement management process is being applied by unit managers and understand the impact thereof on service delivery in Taletso TVET College. Qualitative approach is an appropriate method to obtain that information. Henning, van Rensburg & Smit (2004:3) cited Hooijer & Fourie (2009) in explaining the qualitative approach as a study where variables are usually not controlled, because it is exactly that freedom, natural development of action and representation that the researcher wishes to capture. Henning, van Rensburg & Smit (2004:3) further elaborated by stating that when the researcher conducts a qualitative research, he or she wants to understand and also explain in argument, by using evidence from the data and from the literature, the phenomenon or phenomena that the researcher is studying. According to De Vos et al. (2005), semi-structured questionnaires are defined as those questionnaires structured around areas of particular interest, while still allowing considerable flexibility in scope and depth. Saunders & Lewis (2012) defined the semi-structured interview data collection method as a tool that allows the researcher to use pre-arranged questions, at the same time giving the ability to change the order or omit the question, and ask additional questions that are applicable to the study. Different ways could be used to collect data at different levels of the study. In this study, the researcher used a semi-structured questionnaire rather than a structured questionnaire because the semi-structured questionnaire offers sufficient flexibility to approach different respondents differently while still covering the same areas of data collections (Noor, 2008). Both qualitative and quantitative methods are important for this study. Utilising both these methods assisted the study to get a view from both measurable and analytical approaches. The qualitative method provides the combination of the respondent’s perceptions and historical research that has been conducted on the subject to understand the background of the study. The perception of the respondents provided 33 a clear indication of what the role players perceive to impede the procurement process while literature will highlight similar characteristics relevant to Taletso TVET College. The quantitative side is important for this study to profile the respondents and to draw a conclusion about the population and it is more reliable and objective, using evidence to generalise a finding. This position is supported by Creswell (2008:9), who stated that a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research assists in establishing a better understanding of the research problem, rather than when either method is used in isolation. 3.2.1 The research approach For this study, the researcher applied a survey-based approach. The survey-based approach is important for this study because it has a very small cost per respondent and is easily administered. The anonymity of the survey also allows respondents to provide accurate data and valid answers. The survey is be based on questionnaires distributed to all the 43 role players, i.e. unit managers from Taletso TVET College. The intention was to gain an understanding of the application of the procurement management process from the unit managers of Taletso TVET College. It was also assist in investigating the practices and limitations in the procurement management process so that wasteful activities in college operations are eliminated, and create a suitable value chain in the college process. 3.3 Population of the study A target population in this study consists of 43 officials from Taletso TVET College with three campuses. The entire population was used as a sample. The population consists of 22 senior lecturers, 9 middle managers, 9 heads of departments and 3 Campus managers as outlined in the Table 3.1 below. Table 3.1: Research Population Division / Unit Designation Number Campus Management Campus Managers 3 Lehurutshe Campus Lichtenburg Campus 34 Division / Unit Designation Number Mafikeng Campus Middle Management Middle Managers 9 HR, Finance, Student support, Marketing and Communication, ICT, QMS, Business Development, Academic manager and Corporate Services Head of Department Head of department 9 (HOD) Business studies 5 Engineering studies 4 Senior Lecturers Senior Lecturer 22 Business studies 16 Engineering studies 6 Total 43 3.4 Location where unit of analysis is located The units of analysis (unit managers) are based in different areas within the operations of the college as follows.  Campus Managers (Lehurutshe, Lichtenberg, and Mafikeng)  HOD’S (Lehurutshe, Lichtenberg, and Mafikeng)  Middle managers (Mafikeng; Central Office) The study utilised the unit managers because they have the understanding of the application of the procurement management process of Taletso TVET College. 3.5 Data collection strategies This study utilised survey questionnaires which vary according to groups, namely the senior lecturers, middle managers, heads of department and campus managers. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all employees. The researcher is employed by Taletso TVET College, which made it easy for the researcher to 35 administer the questionnaire to the respondents. The researcher delivered the questionnaires personally in order to reach the target population, to ensure the safety of the questionnaires and to validate the questionnaires. The questionnaires are divided into four sections, namely Section A, which consist of demographic information for cross-sectional analysis, Section B, which investigate the competence (knowledge and skills), Section C which investigates the practices and limitations in the procurement management process and the lastly Section D which investigated the application of the procurement management process. 3.6 Data collection procedure According to Voce (2002), data collection method is distinguished from data collection technique. Data collection method refers to the systematic approach to collecting data for the study. Technique refers to the art of asking questions, listening to the respondents and the interpretation of data. Data collection is the way in which the researcher gathers information from his/her respondents. Table 3.2: Data collection procedure •NWU letter to conduct interview Request letter to •College letter approval to collect data conduct interview •Develop questionaire Development of •Interview guide to collect data Questionaire and Interrview •Pilot and pretest questionnaire Piloting of •Make changes where nessessary questinnaire •Inform participants about the questionnaire Set a interview •How the meeting will take place and which time or intervals with partcipants •Welcome the participants and inform then about confidentially and voluntary participation. Meet with the participants •Collecte data Source: Researcher’s own compilation, 2017 36 Kumar (2005:118) stated that there are two major approaches used by researchers to gather information, depending on the availability of data. Data can be collected from the secondary sources and, at times, data can be gathered from the primary sources. The data gathered through the primary sources give first-hand information, unlike the data collected from the secondary sources. For the purpose of this study, data was collected from the primary sources, which in this case are unit managers at Taletso TVET College, who are directly involved in the procurement management processes. 3.7 Reliability Hair, Black, Babin & Anderson (2010:165) stated that the reliability means the consistency and accuracy with which the instrument measures the concept in question. Johnson & Christensen (2008:149) stated that when using Likert-type scales it is imperative to calculate and report Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for internal consistency reliability for any scales or subscales one may be using. According to Cooper & Schindler (2008:289), the reliability of a questionnaire in social research is computed using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. When the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is at least 0.7, then the instrument is reliable and consistent. In general, reliabilities that are less than 0.6 are considered poor, while those in 0.7 ranges are considered acceptable and lastly reliabilities above 0.8 are considered good. The reliability results are presented in Table 3.3. Table 3.3: Reliability results Data Cronbach’s Alpha Cases Respondents from Taletso TVET College 0.722 20 The reliability analysis presented in Table 3.3 revealed that the research instrument of the study was excellent and reliable since the Cronbach’s alpha value is greater than the cut-off point of 0.7. 37 3.8 Validity According to Cooper & Schindler (2008:289) cited Assensoh-Kodua & Imrith (2016), validity is the extent to which differences found with a measuring tool reflect the true differences among respondents being used. Cooper & Schindler (2008:289) further stated that there are three types of validity tests namely: content, construct and criterion-related validity tests. Furthermore, Cooper & Schindler (2008:289) indicated that content validity is the extent to which the questionnaire provides adequate coverage of the investigative questions guiding the study. The following Table 3.4 by Cooper & Schindler (2008:289) summarises the validity estimates. Table 3.4: Validity estimates Type of What is measured Methods validity Content Is the degree to which the content Judgmental or panel evaluation with of the items tolerably represent the content validity ratio universe of all relevant items under study. Criterion Is the degree to which the predictor Correlation related is satisfactory in capturing the relevant aspects of the criterion. Construct Isolates the fundamental Judgmental; correlation of projected constructs that are being test with the established one; Factor measured and determine how well analysis; The multi trait-multi-method the tests that represents them. analysis and Convergent-discriminant techniques 3.9 Data analysis method The responses to each of the survey questionnaires form the unit managers that was collected and organised in comparatives tables to understand common views, the disagreements and perceived understanding of the application of procurement management process. Graphs and pie charts and descriptive statistics was used to profile the demographics of the participants and to presents the responses to the competence (knowledge and skills), the practices and limitations in the procurement management process and the the application of the procurement management 38 process. This is the stage where the researcher analysed information that was collected. At this stage, the data is still raw and the researcher has to edit it to ensure that there are no gaps or outstanding information. The researcher in this study used a questionnaire as a method of collecting data, completeness and errors have to be checked. The researcher perused the responses and check to ensure that there are no gaps or questions that have been omitted or not responded to. Kumar (2005:220) stated that the researcher first has to ensure that the data is clean and free from inconsistencies and incompleteness. Kumar (2005:220) further stated that cleaning the data consists of scrutinizing the completed research instruments to identify and minimize the errors, miss-classifications and gaps in the information as far as possible. According to Kumar (2005:223), in analysing the qualitative data, the researcher has to go through a content analysis process. Content analysis process is defined as the analysis of the contents of an interview in order to identify the main themes that emerge from the responses given by the respondents. The process of content analysis involves a number of steps as stated below. Identify the main themes: Here, the researcher goes through the responses given by respondents to each question, in order to understand the meaning communicated. From these responses, the researcher developed broad themes that reflect these meanings.  Assign codes to the main themes: The researcher selected responses to an open-ended question, identify main themes and continue to identify themes from the same question, then write down these themes.  Classify responses under the main themes: Having identified the themes, the researcher will go through the transcripts of all the interviews conducted and classify responses under different themes.  Integrate themes and responses into the text of the report: Once the responses that fell within different themes have been identified, they will be integrated into the text of the report, depending on the outlook of the report. Or the researcher will count how frequently a theme occurs and then provide a sample of responses. 39 3.10 Ethical considerations According to Leedy & Ormrod,(2005:101) cited Msuthwana, Tait & Mazibuko (2013), most ethical issues in research fall into one of four categories namely; protection from possible harm, knowledgeable consent, right to privacy, and honesty with professional colleagues. This is relevant to the study because during data collection it is the responsibility of the researcher to ensure that all participants to the study are not exposed to any form of harm. In addition to this argument, Marshall & Rossman (2011:121) cited Tabe (2015) stated that researchers must not only attempt to ensure safety and security of respondents because he/she is equally exposed to a number of dangers posed either through environmental issues or respondents themselves. In an attempt to ensure the safety of the participants, a great deal of common sense knowledge and good planning was applied during the pre- assessment of the venues and respondents involved. Approval and consent from North West University and the College was obtained before data collection. Falsifying data, or and duplication of work done by another researcher during the research process can cause ethical problems. Therefore, false declarations must be avoided, except for secondary sources which have been acknowledged, as listed in the bibliography. The researcher asked for approval first from the college principal before contacting the participants in the study. The respondents were informed about the purpose of this study and also the confidentiality of taking part in the study. A declaration form obtained from the Graduate School was made available to the respondents for confirming the study as well as the ethics of the researcher. Respondents were encouraged to take part in this study and also the results or findings of the study could be made available on request. 3.11 Conclusion The chapter presented the methodology of the study. The chapter further discussed the research approach, the population of the study, the data collection procedure and how the data was be analysed. The subsequent chapter comprises of interpretation and presentation of findings acquired by means of the different research methods as indicated above. The presentation of findings was entirely based on the responses provided and explanations to the research problems. 40 Chapter 4: Data analysis 4.1 Introduction This chapter discusses the data analysis and interpretation of the study with the aim of exploring the procurement process in Taletso TVET College. The population of this study comprised unit managers who are directly or indirectly involved in the procurement of goods and services in the unit. The total sample size of the study consisted of 43 respondents. The findings of this study are presented as per different sections in the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of four sections: the first section consisted of the demographics, the second section dealt with the competence (knowledge and skills), the third section presented procurement management practices in the college and the fourth section presented the application of the procurement management process. 4.2 Response rate All 43 participants were given a questionnaire which consists of a qualitative and a quantitative part as per the population target. A total of 40 questionnaires were returned, of which all 40 were compliant and there was no discarding due to technical difficulties. A subsequent response rate or 93% was achieved for the questionnaires. The following graphical presentation presents the gender of the respondents. 41 Figure 4.1: Gender of the respondents 42,5 57,5 Male Female The first category of the demographical profile shows that more males than females participated in this exercise with 57.5% and 42.5% respectively. This means that males dominated the gender category. Figure 4.2: Age of respondents 35,0 35,0 35,0 34,0 33,0 32,0 31,0 30,0 30,0 29,0 28,0 27,0 31 to 40 41 to 50 51+ Figure 4.2 indicates that the majority of the respondents were either between 31-40 years of age or 41-50 years of age with 35.0% respectively. The smallest age group was the group of at least 50 years, which constituted 30%. 42 Figure 4.3: Years of experience 35,0 35,0 32,5 30,0 25,0 25,0 20,0 15,0 10,0 7,5 5,0 0,0 3 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 15 16+ The figure above indicates that 35% of the respondents have 6-10 years’ experience as a unit manager, 32.5% have 11-15 years’ experience, and 25% have 16 and more. The least proportion (7.5%) of the respondents have 3-5 years’ experience. Figure 4.4: Are you in charge of approving requisitions? 27,5 72,5 Yes No Figure 4.4 depicts that 72.5% of the respondents do not approve requisitions for their unit while 27.5% approve requisitions in their respective units. 43 Figure 4.5: In the absence of the manager is there any another person in the unit who is delegated the function for procurement decisions? 80,0 80,0 70,0 60,0 50,0 40,0 30,0 20,0 20,0 10,0 0,0 Yes No Figure 4.5 shows that a majority (80.0%) of the participants in the study do not delegate the function of approval of requisitions in procurement process when they are absent; while 20% of the respondents indicated that they delegate this function in their respective unit during their absence. 4.3 Competence (knowledge and skills) This section presents the responses in relation to the competence (knowledge and skills) of the respondents. Figure 4.6: Highest qualification of the respondents 44 70,0 65,0 60,0 50,0 40,0 35,0 30,0 20,0 10,0 0,0 National diploma Degree and above Figure 4.6 indicates that the majority (65%) of the respondents’ highest qualification is a National Diploma while 35.0% of the respondents are holding a Bachelor’s degree and above. Table 4.1: Formal training Questions None Short Certificate National Degree Total Course Diploma and Above 1 2 3 4 5 Do you have any formal 1(2.6%) 5(13.2%) 15(39.5%) 15(39.5%) 2(5.3%) 38(100) training in financial management? Do you have any formal 3(7.5%) 5(12.5%) 8(20.0%) 10(25.0%) 14(35.0%) 40(100) training in Business management? Do you have any formal 1(2.6%) 11(28.2%) 15(38.5%) 8(7.1%) 4(10.5%) 39(100) training in computer skills? Have you been trained or 0(0.0%) 0(0.0%) 3(7.5%) 11(27.5%) 26(65.0%) 40(100) skilled on PFMA and public service management? Table 4.1 indicate that a majority (39.5%) of the respondents have a certificate or a National Diploma in financial management, 13.2% had a short course in the financial management field and the least (2.6%) of the respondents do not have any formal training in financial management. The results in Table 4.2 revealed that 35.0% of 45 respondents have at least a Degree in business management, 25.0% have National Diploma and the least have no formal training in business management, with 7.5%. The study found that 38.5% of the respondents have a Certificate in computer skills while 28.2% had a short course in computer skills. Lastly, the majority (65.0%) of the respondents indicated that they have at least a Degree in Public Finance Management Act and Public Service Management and the least (7.5%) have a Certificate in Public Finance Management Act and Public Service Management. 46 Figure 4.7: Does no formal training or skills on the (Figure 4.6 and Table 4.2) have impact on the procurement process in your unit? 60,0 60,0 50,0 40,0 40,0 30,0 20,0 10,0 0,0 Yes No Figure 4.7 indicates that 60% of the respondents are in disagreement that lack of skills has impact on procurement process, while 40% are in agreement. 4.4 Procurement Management Process in Taletso TVET College This section of the study presents the responses in relation to the procurement management process in Taletso TVET College. Figure 4.8: What policy does a TVET college use for procurement of goods and services? 60,0 58,5 50,0 40,0 30,0 24,4 20,0 17,1 10,0 0,0 DHET Policy Basic Education College own policy 47 Figure 4.8 Indicates that the majority (58.5%) of the respondents at Taletso TVET College indicated that the college uses its own policy, while 24.4% indicated that the college uses the DHET policy and lastly 17.1% of the respondents indicated that the college uses the Basic Education policy. Figure 4.9: How well is the current procurement management process aligned to above selected policy? 40,0 40,0 35,0 30,0 27,5 25,0 20,0 20,0 15,0 12,5 10,0 5,0 0,0 None existed Poor Average Good Figure 4.9 depicts that 40.0% of the respondents say the alignment of the selected above policy with the current procurement management process is average, followed by 27.5% of those who indicated non-existent, 20.0% rated the alignment good and lastly 12.5% indicated that the current procurement management process and the selected policy above are poorly aligned. 48 Figure 4.10: As a unit manager do you have the direct authority to procure goods and service for your unit without any interference as outlined by the policy? 50,0 50,0 Yes No In Figure 4.10, 50.0% of the respondents indicated that a unit manager has the direct authority to procure goods and service for their unit without any interference as outlined by the policy, while the other 50.0% disagree with the statement. Figure 4.11: Does the college procurement management unit have the capacity to implement the procurement plan of the college correctly? 50,0 50,0 Yes No 49 In Figure 4.11, 50.0% of the respondents indicated that the college procurement management unit has the capacity to implement the procurement plan of the college correctly, while the other 50.0% disagree with the statement. 4.5 Application of procurement management process This section presents the responses in relation to the application of procurement management process in Taletso TVET College. Figure 4.12: Is the procurement management unit able to deliver goods and services at the right time, right quality, right quantity and price as outlined in the procurement management plan? 60,0 56,4 50,0 43,6 40,0 30,0 20,0 10,0 0,0 Yes No Figure 4.12 depicts that the majority (56.4%) of the respondents indicated that the procurement management unit is able to deliver goods and services at right time, right quality, right quantity and price as outlined in the procurement management plan while 43.6% are in disagreement. 50 Figure 4.13: In which area did the procurement management process fail? 70,0 67,5 60,0 50,0 40,0 30,0 22,5 20,0 10,0 7,5 2,5 0,0 Delivery time Quality goods / Right quantity Correct Price Service In Figure 4.13, the majority (67.5%) indicated that the procurement management process fails in delivery time, 22.5% indicated that it fails in quality of goods/services and lastly 2.5% indicated that the procurement management process fails in the correct prices. Table 4.2: What are areas of challenges in procurement management process for unit managers? Performance Area Highly Effective Neutral Ineffective Highly Total Effective Ineffective 1 2 3 4 5 Compliance to 13(32.5%) 15(37.5%) 8(20.0%) 4(10.0%) 0(0.0%) 40(100) procurement management process Budget approval 16(40.0%) 10(25.0%) 2(5.0%) 8(20.0%) 4(10.0%) 40(100) Delivery of goods or 13(32.5%) 14(35.0%) 10(25.0%) 3(7.5%) 0(0.0%) 40(100) services from suppliers Approval of an order 11(27.5%) 15(37.5%) 6(15.0%) 8(20.0%) 0(0.0%) 40(100) Specifications from 23(57.5%) 4(10.0%) 11(27.5%) 2(5.0%) 0(0.0%) 40(100) end users in the unit B BBEE being applied 31(77.5%) 6(15.0%) 2(5.0%) 1(2.5%) 0(0.0%) 40(100) fairly Are SMME’s that 12(30.0%) 14(35.0%) 3(7.5%) 11(27.5%) 0(0.0%) 40(100) competent 51 The results presented in Table 4.2 are in relation to the areas of challenges in procurement management process for unit managers. Accordingly, 70.0% (32.5% & 37.5%) of the respondents indicated that compliance to procurement management process is effective for unit managers, 65.0% (40.0% & 25.0%) of the respondents indicated that budget approval is effective for their unit managers, 67.5% (32.5% & 35.0%) of the respondents indicated that there is an effective delivery of goods or services from suppliers for their unit, 65.0% (27.5% & 37.5%) of the respondents indicated that the approval of an order in their unit is effective. A majority, 67.5% (57.5% & 10.0%) of the respondents indicated that the specifications from end users in the unit is effective, 92.5% (77.5% & 15.0%) of the respondents indicated that B- BEE is being applied fairly effectively in their unit and lastly 65.0% (30.0% & 35.0%) of the respondents indicated that the SMME’s are effectively competent in their unit. Figure 4.14: Do you think lack of skills and knowledge are contributing factors towards rendering poor service delivery in the Supply Chain Management? 53,0 52,5 52,0 51,0 50,0 49,0 48,0 47,5 47,0 46,0 45,0 Yes No In Figure 4.14, the majority (52.5%) of the respondents indicated that they think lack of skills and knowledge are not contributing factors towards rendering poor service delivery in the Supply Chain Management while 47.5% of the respondents indicated that they think lack of skills and knowledge are contributing factors towards rendering poor service delivery in the Supply Chain Management. 52 4.6 Chapter summary The chapter presented empirical data analysis results and interpretation of results. The data was analysed in order to address the research questions presented in chapter 1. The Cronbach’s alpha test was used to test the reliability of the research instrument and the data was found to be excellent and consistent. The data analysis of the study was computed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) system and the output was used to create graphs and tables. The next chapter discusses the results, conclusion and the recommendations. 53 Chapter: 5 Discussions of results, conclusions and recommendations 5.1 Introduction Chapter 5 presents and discusses the results of the study. The discussion is based on the results obtained in chapter 4. The discussion is in relation to the research objectives presented in chapter 1. Based on the discussions, conclusions are made. Finally, areas that need further research are recommended. Section 5.2 presents the summary, Section 5.3 presents the conclusion and Section 5.4 is the recommendations. 5.2 Discussion of results The main objective of the study was to analyse the effectiveness of procurement management process for unit managers at Taletso TVET College with the aim of identifying the following: 5.2.1 Research objective 1: To determine the level at which the Taletso TVET College is progressing with the application of procurement process. The study found that the respondents indicated that the procurement management unit is able to deliver goods and services at right time, right quality, right quantity and price as outlined in the procurement management plan, while a small proportion oppose the statement. The same respondents also indicated that the procurement management process mainly fails in delivery time and in quality of goods/services. The unit managers in the study indicated that they think lack of skills and knowledge are not contributing factors towards rendering poor service delivery in the Supply Chain Management. Lau (2010:409), in his study found that there is a lack of education and training for procurement personnel, even though skilled personnel are essential to drive the profitability of the organisation. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and CSCMP offer custom- made education and training programmes in procurement and supply chain that can equip the procurement staff to perform better. Adequate capacity in the form of appropriate structures with fully skilled and professional SCM personnel is a key success factor for proper SCM implementation. In some government entities, the quality of SCM personnel’s skills and ability are well below standard. Migiro and 54 Ambe (2008) asserted that many SCM actors in the South African public sphere have attended a number of training workshops on SCM, but they still lack the appropriate knowledge for proper implementation. McCarthy (2006) contended that there is a lack of capacity and knowledge by SCM actors to handle procurement processes that have led to bad governance. The South African government embarks on programmes that educate practitioners, but implementation of its programmes always falls short. 5.2.2 Research objective 2: To determine the challenges impeding the unit managers with regard to procurement process in the college and improve it to gain a competitive advantage. The study found that the large proportion of the respondents indicated that compliance with procurement management process and budget approvals are effective in their unit. The study further found that there is an effective delivery of goods or services from suppliers in their unit. The approval of an order and the specifications from end users are effective in their unit. The study also found that B- BBEE being applied in their unit is fairly effective and lastly the respondents indicated that the SMME’s are effectively competent in their unit. Supply chain strategies vary according to the discipline from which they originate. However, their intent is consistent; to reduce uncertainties and cost while satisfying the end customer’s needs (Hines, 2006). Centralisation offers advantages such as leverage due to volumes, reduction of duplication of purchasing effort, better control and development of specialised expertise of purchasing personnel (Monczka, Handfield, Guinipero & Patterson, 2011:160–61). On the other hand, decentralisation often leads to better responsiveness to purchasing needs, a better understanding of unique local needs, and is closer to suppliers and taking ownership of decisions that impact on one’s own budget (Monczka et al., 2011:162). However, if the advantages of centralisation are to be realised, efficient contract management and supplier relationship management must be in place. Most service providers that partner with outside organisations create “added value” to the organisation's overall competitive strategy and help reduce costs in the value chain (Korosec, 2003:96) cited (Ambe, 2012) . Hence, effective supplier selection is vital in ensuring that goods and services required in the delivery of teaching and learning are procure on time and 55 delivered at right quantity. Late or lack of delivery f goods and services on time could have a direct impact on time delivery of quality teaching and learning. 5.2.3 Research objective 3: To determine the role of unit managers in the procurement of goods and services for their respective units. The study found out that the a large amount of the respondents at Taletso TVET College indicated that the college uses its own policy for procurement of goods and services, while a small proportion indicated that the college uses the policy set by the Basic Education Department. The same majority indicated that the alignment of the selected policy with the current procurement management process is average and the small proportion also indicated that alignment with the selected policy is poor. The study found that 50% of the respondents indicated that a unit manager has the direct authority to procure goods and service for their unit without any interference as outlined by the policy, while the other 50% disagree with the statement. Fifty percent of the respondents indicated that the college procurement management unit has the capacity to implement the procurement plan of the college correctly, while the other 50% indicated that the college procurement management unit does not have the capacity to implement the procurement plan of the college correctly. It is generally accepted that supply chain performance is influenced by the supply chain’s structure (Moon, 2005:20.) Furthermore, Persoon & Olhager (2002:231) also indicated that changes in the structural design of the supply chains in the organisation may improve the performance of the supply chains. Inadequate monitoring and evaluation is linked to the absence of or the presence of a poor control environment, and the government entities are placed in a difficult position to give effect to or implement SCM as required by the policy. Strong monitoring and evaluation systems provide the means to compile and integrate this valuable information into the policy cycle, thus providing the basis for sound governance and accountable public policies (Lopez-Acevedo et al., 2010). 5.2.4 Research objective 4: To make a recommendation to management on the areas that needs improvement. The study discovered that a slight majority consisting of 52.5%, of the respondents from the study indicate that they do not have the skills and knowledge in the procurement of goods and services and this has an impact on the application of 56 procurement management process. The other 47.5% of the respondents indicate that they do have the skills and knowledge on the application of procurement management process. If inefficiencies or problems are experienced in one part, this negatively affects the other parts and the supply chain as a whole. One part should not be regarded as more important than the other. It is thus to the advantage of all the supply chain members if inefficiencies can be resolved together. Cost and inefficiencies go up when members of the supply chain fail to communicate and co- operate (Fawcett et al., 2007:100). However, many government entities are still faced with the challenges of improper planning and linking demand to budget (Ambe & Badenhorst-Weiss, 2011a). Cost-effective procurement depends on a specialist’s skills to ensure that buying requirements are reliably determined, appropriate contract strategies are developed, contracts are well managed and opportunities are seized to secure the best deals at the right time and at the right price. The importance of drawing up accurate and realistic strategic plans cannot be overestimated. Poor planning and budgeting have also affected the implementation of SCM. It is therefore vital that SCM practitioners and role players should adequately link demand planning to budget. 5.3 Limitations For the purpose of this research, this paper focuses only on procurement management processes for unit managers in Taletso TVET College. The outcome may not be generalized provincially as they only apply to Taletso TVET College. Other participants who are seriously affected by procurement management, such as the students, could be included in the next study to get the true understanding of their feeling about procurement management process’s performance in ensuring that goods and services required by the students are provided on time, at right quantity and place. That study could further include the variable against the delivery of quality teaching and learning in the college. Furthermore the vendors that render goods and services to the college could be included in the study to measure their perception and challenges from the management of procurement processes. It is therefore suggested that the Department of Higher Education and Training ought to be considered whenever the research of this nature is conducted, where the study will focus on all the TVET College in the country. 57 5.4 Recommendations The following are recommendations of the study: 5.4.1The need to review the College Supply Chain Management Policy: It is hereby suggested that the college should review its SCM policy, which is the one that is used to procure goods and services. It was found that the respondents were not clear in terms of which policy the college uses in the procurement management process. This could be due to the fact that the college has migrated from the provincial to the national Department of Education recently and in the process the college policies were never properly introduced. Another factor which could cause this is the fact that policy review has not been done in the college and there are recent changes in legislation form the National Treasury, and this may leave the college behind proper realignment has not been done. 5.4.2 Training of procurement role players including unit managers It is hereby suggested that more intensive training sessions be organised in future, which will be characterised by complete monitoring by the college council. Findings in the study revealed that the training session, especially on SCM has not been done in a long time; this will assist in increasing performance and reducing misunderstanding in the procurement management process. Considering that the world is constantly evolving it is therefore advisable that much longer and more consistent training sessions be organised for all workers across the board through workshops from a SCM aspect. An improvement in aligning the roles and responsibilities of each role player will increase effectiveness when applying the procurement management process. 5.4.3 Proper Procurement Management Plans and Budget Procurement Plan and budget approval is highly ineffective in the college. This will impact on the procurement of goods and services and, as such, college management must put plans in places to improve on the development of procurement plans. All role players in the procurement management process should be equally represented including unit managers, support staff and senior management. The CFO should make the budget available to all cost centre managers so they are able to develop realistic procurement plans. 58 5.4.4 Development of policies and procedure that are aligned with the National Treasury The college need to ensure that policies and procedure manuals implemented are in line with the National Treasury requirements. 5.4.5 Provincial compliance unit with the Department of Higher Education and Training Department of Higher education and Training, North West Province, needs to establish compliance unit to coordinate compliance activities on SCM. 5.4.6 Partnership with the national School of Governance Poor planning should not be promoted within unit managers but corrected by sending the all unit managers to attend Project Management course work with National school of governance. 5.5 Recommendation for future research Since this study was limited only to the Taletso TVET College. It is therefore suggested that future study could be conducted on a similar subject on a comparative perspective with other TVET colleges (Orbit TVET College and Vuselela TVET College) in the North West province. A similar study could be conducted by adding students as part of the target population to test the level of services delivery from the current procurement management process within the college. This will assist the Department of Higher Education and Training to ensure that TVET College in the country apply the procurement management process that are uniform and aligned to the national treasury prescripts. 5.6 Conclusion In this section, a summary of the entire chapter 5 was presented. This was followed by a discussion of findings from the respondents and literature substantiating the findings. It was evidenced that the procurement management processes are not fair, equitable and transparent and lead to non-compliance in the college. It cannot be over-emphasized that challenges such as late delivery of goods from suppliers, training and procurement plan of the college, to mention a few, exist in the public sector regarding procurement processes. Much attention should be given to these challenges and proposed solution or measures be implemented to ensure that non- compliance with procurement procedures and late delivery of goods from suppliers, 59 training and procurement plan of the college are a thing of the past. To ensure transparency in the procurement processes, the accounting officers are required to invite suppliers in a rotational basis and inform suppliers about the General Conditions of Contracts. It is further recommended that all the officials in the procurement management process of the college adhere to the aforementioned recommendations set out above. 60 Bibliography Anon. Training, D.O.H.E.A. (2013). Supply Chain Management policy. Ali, D., & Kannan, G. (2011). 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Supplier relationship management – anathema for the South African public procurement sector, 9-10. Quilan, C. (2011). Business research methods . Andover, Hampshire, Uk : South Western Cengage Learning. Raga, K. (2008). Public Sector Procurement : South African Ethical and Legislative Aspects : Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. African Journal of Public Affairs, 2(1). Sandler, J. L. (2011). A FORMATIVE EVALUATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT POLICY FRAMEWORK IN EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION . Sarantakos, S. (2005). Social Research. United Kingdom: Macmillan Publishers Limited. Saunders, M. N., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2015). Research Methods for Business Students. United Kingdom: Pearson. Treasury, N. (2015). Public sector supply chain management review. Department: National Treasury REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. Trochim, W. M., Donnelly, J. P., & Arora, K. (2006). Research Methods: The Essential Knowledge Base. Cengage Learning. Veal, A. J., & Darcy, S. (2011). Research methods for leisure and tourism : Practical guide fourth edition. E-book. Walker, H., & Brammer, S. (2012). The realtionship between sustainable procurement and e- procurement in the public sector. In. J. Production Economics, 140, 256-268. 62 Appendix A: Questionnaires 63 INTERVIEW GUIDE Interview Date_______________ RESEARCH TOPIC: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT PROCESS FOR UNIT MANAGERS IN TALETSO TVET COLLEGE NAME OF RESEARCHER: MS WILSON INSTITUTION: NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY (MAFIKENG CAMPUS) DEGREE: MBA CONTACT DETAILS: modisesylvester@yahoo.com/ 018 384 2346 Important Notice: Thank you for making a special time to take part in these questionnaires; The questions are made of open end and you are allowed to elaborate to give example to substantiate your point. You may not mention names but rather the position that the person occupies. This interview is estimated to last for attest 30 minutes or a maximum of 1 Hour. This project has the potential to inform management and anybody including the participant about results from this study. The research results of this study can be availed to the participants on request from the researcher. Voluntarily and Confidentiality of the participants is strict. Instruction to participants: Please answer the following questions to be best of your ability and note that your comments are confidentiality guaranteed. 64 SECTION 1- PERSONAL DETAILS 1.1 What is your Age? 18-21 22-30 31-40 41-50 51+ 1.2 What is your Gender? Male Female 1.3 How many years of experience do you have as a unit managers? 0-2 3-5 6-10 11-15 16+ 1.4 Are you in charge of requisitions approval in your unit? Yes No 1.5 In absence of the manager is there any another person in the unit who is delegated function for procurement decisions? Yes No SECTION 2 – COMPETENCE (KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS) 2.1 What is the highest level of education attained by the managers? (Highest standard passed) Below Std 6/ Short Course Matric or National Degree and Grade 7 Grade12 Diploma above 2.2 Do you have any formal training in financial management? None Short Course Certificate National Degree and Diploma above 2.3 Do you have any formal training in Business management? None Short Course Certificate National Degree and Diploma above 2.4 Do you have any formal training in computer skills? 65 None Short Course Certificate National Degree and Diploma above 2.5 Have you being trained or skilled on PFMA and public service management? None Short Course Certificate National Degree and Diploma above 2.6 If not you don’t have or not being formal training or skills on (2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5) now, do you think the lack of any of this skills has impact on the procurement process in your unit? Yes No SECTION 3- PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT PROCESS OF TALETSO TVET COLLEGE 3.1 What policy does a TVET college use for procurement of goods and service? DHET Policy Basic Education College own policy 3.2 How well does the current Procurement management process aligned to 3.1(e.g. DHET)? None existed Poor Average Good 3.3 As a unit manager do you have the direct authority to procure goods and service for you unit without any interferences as outlined by the policy? Yes No 3.4 If yes what are some the challenges? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 66 3.5 Does the college procurement management unit have the capacity to implement the procurement plan of the college correctly? Yes No 3.6 If No what are the reasons? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ SECTION 4 – APPLICATION OF PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT PROCESS 4.1 Has the procurement management unit being able to deliver goods and services at right time, right quality, right quantity and price as outlined in the procurement management plan ? Yes No 4.2 If Not in which area did the procurement management process fail? Delivery time Quality goods / Right quantity Correct Price Service 4.3 So what corrective measures are available to the manager to address such failures if they exist? _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 4.5 What are areas of challenges in procurement management process on unit managers? Performance area Highly Effective Neutral Ineffective Highly 67 Effective Ineffective Compliance to procurement management process Budget approval Delivery of goods or services from suppliers Approval of an order Specifications from end users in the unit B BBEE being applied fairly Are SMME’s that competent 4.6 Do you think lack of skills and knowledge are contributing factors towards rendering poor service delivery in the Supply Chain Management? Yes Explain No Explain GENERAL  What do you understand about the meaning of procurement?  What do you think are the most important things that cause poor service delivery? 68  What strategies should be introduced in order to improve supply chain management in Taletso TVET College?  Does unit managers have the adequate role in the procurement of goods and services for their respective unit in the college?  Does senior management support unit managers in the procurement of goods and services?  If not how can senior management support you? Thank you very much for your time and contribution to this project. 69 Appendix B: Certificate of language editing 70 71 Appendix C: Ethics approval of the project 72 73 Appendix D: Letter requesting permission to conduct research 74 75 76 77 78 79 Appendix E: Permission to conduct research from the college 80 81 APPENDIX F: TURNITIN REPORT NWU 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91