Managerial skills and procurement performance of public entities in Uganda: National Medical Stores, Entebbe

Abstract

The study sought to establish how managerial skills enhanced procurement performance at National Medical Stores (NMS). The study was guided by the following objectives: the effect of technical skills on procurement performance; the contribution of conceptual skills on procurement performance; and the effect of interpersonal skills on procurement performance at NMS. The study adopted a cross sectional survey design with a population of 75 respondents from which purposive sampling and simple random sampling methods were used to select a sample of 64. Data was collected from staff and providers using self-administered questionnaires and an interview guide. Findings indicated that; there were positive significant relationships between technical skills, conceptual skills, interpersonal skills and procurement performance. This was an indication that managerial skills were major determinants of procurement performance. The correlation results were supported by the results from regression analysis which revealed that technical skills, conceptual skills, interpersonal skills were strong predictors of procurement performance. This was implication that technical skills, conceptual skills and interpersonal skills were significant determinants of procurement performance at NMS. The study recommends therefore, that management should promote staff training in managerial skills through planning of staff training, putting in place the required policies and guidelines that promote staff development. Likewise, avenues that promote effective information flow from top down and down up should be put in place to support effective communication. On the other hand, management should put in place guidelines to ethical staff conduct and conflict resolution mechanisms for staff and providers which a fair and just to staff as well as providers.