Abstract:
Although the Tanzanian government has made some efforts to enforce the use of e
procurement systems in public entities, Public-sector e-procurement has lagged behind than
of the private sector. This study quest is to assess factors hindering the adoption of e
procurement system in public entities in Tanzania. The study specifically aims to examine the
influence of employee competence, technological infrastructure, and data security on adoption
of e-procurement in public entities. This study was hinged in the Technological Acceptance
Model (TAM). The study adopted a quantitative research design. The study was conducted at
Karagwe district council in Tanzania. Purposive sampling technique was applied to select
participants from different departments. Data was collected through questionnaire, and
analyzed by quantitative analysis techniques including descriptive statistics, factor analysis,
and multiple linear regression analysis. The study revealed that employee competence
negatively influences the adoption of e-procurement, technological infrastructure positively
influences the adoption of e-procurement, and lastly, data security positively influences the
adoption of e-procurement in public entities. Therefore, the study thus recommends that there
is a need to improve technological infrastructure. The internet infrastructure should be
improved so that e-procurement implementation can be done smoothly. Also, the
management should improve the security of data and accessibility of the data stored in
electronic form as well as the security of the information of the users and make easy
accessibility of data to users. The public sector should have enough budgets to procure
software and hardware, and running costs for the e-procurement system so that its
implementation could bring positive impacts to the organization due to its usage.
