A systematic review of the linkages between corporate governance systems and procurement practices in public procurement entities

Abstract

Purpose – Corporate governance and procurement corruption has long been recognized as a social problem, but the subject has received scant academic attention in prevailing literature on the management of procurement in Ghana. A systematic review conducted explores how the relationship between corporate governance and procurement could contribute to the effective management of public resources to maximize social welfare and augment Ghana’s economy. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing extensively on existing literature as a secondary data source, this research adopts an interpretivist philosophical stance and inductive reasoning to explore corporate governance and procurement corruption. The approach underpinning this overarching epistemology, adopts a three-step sample selection strategy to identify the range and scope of publications on the phenomena under investigation. Scientific papers were searched manually from Scopus and carefully screened for analysis. Findings –Analysis suggests that corporate governance and procurement require a degree of coordinated change across governmental departments, such as planning, legal and procurement to implement a robust policy and related support systems. Furthermore, it was observed that a portfolio approach to inter-organizational collaboration with different partners (such as the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as State Owned Enterprises and Corporations) was not coordinated sufficiently to effectively generate public interest. Albeit each partner has individual own objectives, they ultimately complement one another. A portfolio of different, inter-organizational arrangements enables several complementary instruments and various logics to be used in achieving overall organisational goals and objectives. Originality/value – Novel insight presented provides an invaluable opportunity to: further expand future research into corporate governance and procurement in Ghana; and consequently, provide the premise upon which to build meaningful empirical analysis such as comparing the extent of corruption practices in various sectors of the Ghanaian economy.