Procurement Planning and Public Service Delivery: The Moderating Effects of Leadership and Politics - Evidence from Structural Equation Modeling
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Abstract
This study sought to assess the effect of procurement planning on service delivery and also determine whether leadership and political factors moderate that effect among local governments of Uganda through structural equation modeling (SEM). The survey design was employed, and data was collected from 181 respondents from a target sample of 210, drawn from a target population of 455. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 29 and JASP 0.19.3. The measurement model had good psychometric characteristics as indicated by the Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega values being above the recommended value of 0.70, the AVE being greater than 0.50, HTMT being less than 0.85, and very good model fit indices (CFI = 0.983, TLI = 0.979, RMSEA = 0.021, SRMR = 0.047). Structural model analysis indicated that all the dimensions of the procurement plan had a significant positive effect on public service delivery, with the Needs Identification dimension having the strongest effect (β = 0.51), followed by Market Assessment (β = 0.42) and Procurement Scheduling (β = 0.39). Furthermore, leadership and political factors significantly strengthened the relationship between procurement planning and public service delivery, indicating that supportive leadership and governance enhance the effectiveness of procurement planning practices. The study finds that procurement planning is an important determinant of public service delivery and that its success is dependent on good leadership and political environment. The study suggests the need to enhance needs assessment, market intelligence, procurement timing, leadership capability, and governance processes, as well as reduce excessive political influence on the procurement process. These results have added to the body of knowledge on public procurement by illustrating the importance of the context in which leadership and politics play a part in improving procurement planning processes.
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