Title: Public procurement policies and strategies for capacity building of SME construction firms in Ghana

Authors: Isaac Offei; Ernest Kissi; Edward Badu

Addresses: Department of Building Technology, Takoradi Polytechnic, Ghana ' Department of Building Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana ' Department of Building Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract: The importance of public procurement in achieving the governments' socio-economic objectives is acknowledged worldwide. This study therefore sought to empirically ascertain public procurement policies and strategies that can help build the capacity of the SME construction firms in Ghana. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods in data gathering and analysis (i.e., one sample t-test and factor analysis). The study revealed the following procurement policies and strategies as important for capacity building of SME construction firms: streamlining procurement procedures to make them more transparent and standard, strict adherence to payment schedules of contracts, and provision of general local content criteria in the evaluation of tenders. However, the implementation of these interventions alone will not build the capacities of the target construction firms unless they position themselves well in order to take advantage. It is believed that the identified procurement policies and strategies will help in creating an enabling environment for capacity building of the SME construction firms.

Keywords: capacity building; Ghana; public procurement; construction SMEs; small and medium-sized enterprises; construction industry; sustainable procurement; procurement policy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPM.2016.077705

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2016 Vol.9 No.4, pp.455 - 472

Received: 23 Mar 2015
Accepted: 02 May 2015

Published online: 13 Jul 2016 *

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