Challenges and Opportunities of E-Procurement in the Construction Industry

Abstract

Construction Industry is evolving amid the fourth industrial revolution. Transportation, commerce, manufacturing and many other industries ripened the current technological advancement and are striving to utilise every development in the IT sector. The procurement of construction works is known to be very conventional and backward in the adoption of digitalisation. The construction industry's procurement and supply chain are blamed for the most inflated cost of construction projects, mainly attributed to a lack of transparency and trust between the industry stakeholders. This research explores the challenges of E-procurement adoption in the industry and identifies the potential opportunities for its usage. This investigation's data are acquired through interviews, and the data are analysed using qualitative content analysis. This study reveals compounding challenges (i.e., corruption and lack of commitment) that lead to the failure of such efforts in Nigeria and the potential prospects (i.e., transparency and efficiency). This study is essential in developing a more effective and transparent process of procurement so that the Nigerian construction industry is not be left behind in the fast-digitalising markets.

Evaluation of the drivers to the implementation of blockchain technology in the construction supply chain management in Nigeria

“…In the history of computing, BT represents the single most significant innovation (Al-Zaqeba et al , 2022). As a direct result of Satoshi Nakamoto’s creation of Bitcoin in 2008, the technology was launched that year (Hamma-Adama et al , 2020). Data transactions can be recorded and stored cryptographically (Six et al , 2022) in a sequential fashion using BT, which is a distributed ledger platform composed of blocks (Li et al , 2019).…”

“…This concept uses existing technologies to address problems in productivity and the supply chain (Li et al , 2019). Among them are the internet of things (Bai et al , 2020), cloud computing (Raj et al , 2020), building information modelling (BIM), big data, virtual reality/augmented reality (Singh et al , 2020) and blockchain technology (BT) (Hamma-Adama et al , 2020). Many other sectors have adopted these technologies and seen their methods of operation improve as a result (Elghaish et al , 2021).…”

The impact of procurement method on construction time waste

“…It involves the determination of a legal binding system that clearly identifies the bonds for members within the structure cycle and the structure of specialists (Naoum and Egbu, 2015). In general, there are four main procurement methods: (a) traditional method, (b) design and build, (c) management oriented and (d) collaborative; PPP, PFI (Hamma-Adama and Ahmad, 2021). In this study, it mainly focuses on the traditional procurement method and design and build procurement method which are mostly used procurement methods in Sri Lankan construction industry.…”

“…It also can be understood that a procurement system defines scope or responsibilities of each party of the construction contract. Furthermore, procurement methods can be classified into four key categories, viz, (a) Traditional Method, (b) Design and Build, (c) Management Oriented, and (d) Collaborative; PPP, PFI (Hamma-adama and Ahmad, 2021). Each procurement method has different advantages and disadvantages over other methods.…”

Assessing the Extent of Electronic Procurement Adoption Challenges in the Public Sector of Ghana

“…Although the public procurement authority (PPA) has vigorously pursued the implementation of electronic procurement in public institutions in Ghana, its full implementation is still not realized (Tutu et al, 2019). Hamma-Adama and Ahmad (2021) posit that the lack of awareness of stakeholders including the government on the benefits of deploying electronic procurement in obtaining fiscal independence poses an obstacle to the adoption of electronic procurement.…”