INFLUENCE OF SUPPLIER SELECTION CRITERIA ON PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC TERTIARY TRAINING INSTITUTIONS IN KENYA

Abstract

This study sought to determine the influence of supplier selection criteria on performance of public tertiary training institutions in Kenya. The study specifically established the influence of financial evaluation, commercial evaluation, technical evaluation and quality management evaluation on performance of public tertiary training institutions in Kenya. The study was guided by the Transaction Cost Economic Theory, Internal Control Theory, Lean Supplier Competence and Agency Theory. A descriptive research design was adopted. The target population comprised of the 78 public tertiary training institutions in Kenya. The study conducted a census on all the institutions. The head of procurement departments were targeted as the unit of observation. Primary data collected through the use of questionnaires was used. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Inferential analysis was also adopted to test the relationship between the variables.  Inferential analysis involved the use of correlation and multivariate regression analysis. The study findings revealed that all the four supplier evaluation criteria, that is financial evaluation, commercial evaluation, technical evaluation and quality management evaluation influenced performance of public tertiary training institutions in Kenya positively. However, the influence of commercial evaluation was not significant. The study therefore recommends that public tertiary training institutions should aim to improve their supplier’s commercial practices evaluation in terms of past performance, reputation, compliance to conditions of the contract, customer relationship management, operational speed, ability to deliver the right quantity and reliability so as to have an improvement in performance. There is also a need for public tertiary training institutions to improve their technical evaluation of suppliers in terms of supplier’s capacity to perform tasks, strategic location, network, state of technology, production experience, staff competence and the labor force skills of suppliers employees since it significantly leads to an improvement in the performance of the organization in terms of reduced lead time, operational costs, procurement costs and improved customer satisfaction.

Key Words: Financial Evaluation, Commercial Evaluation, Technical Evaluation, Quality Management Evaluation, Performance of Public Tertiary Training Institutions