The Effects of Top Management in Adoption of SustainableProcurement Practices in Kenya

Abstract

Globally, organizations are reviewing their procurement operations and processes to be in line with sustainable development goals. Sustainable procurement is about socially and ethically responsible purchasing, minimizing environmental impacts through supply chain, delivering economically sound solutions and business practice. Research has shown that sustainable procurement comes with many benefits such as reduced costs among others. Despite these benefits, most public organizations especially in developing countries like Kenya are yet to adopt sustainability into their procurement processes. This study assessed the involvement of top managers in adopting sustainable procurement practices in Kenya. Specifically, the study: established the extent of top management commitment towards adoption of sustainable procurement management practices in the government of Kenya. The study was grounded on stakeholder and institutional organizational theories. Descriptive and correlation research designs were adopted. Data were collected from 143 respondents who received the questioners using structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. In the value of 1-5, 1 stood for strongly disagree, 2 stood for disagree, 3 stood for neutral, 4 stood for agree while 5 stood for strongly agree. Validity was tested using experts' opinions while Cronbach's alpha (a = 0.736) indicated that the questionnaire was reliable. Findings indicate that most procurement departments have adopted sustainability in procurement and that there was positive correlation between top management commitment (mean = 4.05; r = 0.490), and adoption of sustainable procurement practices in the country of study. The study concluded that organizations should come up with policies on sustainable procurement and continuously monitor their supply chains to ensure that only materials that meet acceptable minimum sustainability criteria are accepted.