Effect of business ethics and corporate governance, how they inform policy and practice in public procurement in urban local authorities in Zimbabwe
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63726/6pqe0652Keywords:
Business Ethics, Corporate Governance, Public Procurement, Transparency and AccountabilityAbstract
This paper investigated the impact of business ethics and corporate governance on the transparency, accountability, efficiency and quality of decision-making in public procurement for urban local authorities in Zimbabwe. Public procurement was found to be the major form of public expenditure in urban local authorities. Transparency, accountability and value for money in the sector were largely undermined due to the non-adherence to business ethics and corporate governance. The research was informed by the Stakeholder Theory and Agency Theory that used a quantitative, cross-sectional design. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a stratified random sample of fifty (50) procurement officers, internal auditors and finance officers chosen from among five purposely selected urban local authorities within the Harare Metropolitan Province. The results showed a significant negative correlation between business ethics, transparency and accountability (r = -0.330, p < 0.001) and a further negative correlation between corporate governance variables and procurement efficiency (β = -0.123, p < 0.05) — which was in tandem with the rigid red tape provisions in governance. The regression model on ethics and governance showed non-decision-making variance (R² = 0.001, F(3,46) = 0.858, p = 0.467), which implied that the decision-making protocol was informed by factors outside the model. The study concluded that business ethics and governance were required though not adequate enough for effective procurement processes. Thus, the study recommended that procurement personnel should be re-skilled through capacity building workshops on simplified approval process and independent audits. Therefore, the study recommended for a re-alignment of the public procurement Act that was characterized by strategies than principles that ensured compatible business ethics within the local authorities’ corporate governance structures.
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