Competencies, self efficacy and performance of Procurement Officers in Central Government Procuring and Disposing Entities in Uganda

Abstract

This study focused on examining the relationship between competencies, self efficacy and performance of procurement officers in central government PDEs in Uganda. The case of procurement officers was selected for the study following contentions that in public procurement, procurement officers are simply ‘order placers’, who can neither control nor influence their work outcomes, hence their poor performance. A sample of 196 procurement officers from central government PDEs in Kampala and Entebbe was used to obtain data for the study and a cross sectional survey design was used. The OCAP framework was used to develop competencies of procurement officers and measures for self efficacy and performance were adopted from previous studies. Data was analyzed using SPSS with focus on descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, regression analyses and ANOVA tests. Results showed strong significant relationships between study variables, with personal competencies being stronger predictors of performance than either operant competencies or self efficacy. The findings also indicate that competencies and self efficacy predict 17.6% of performance; other predictors of performance were outside the scope of this study. It was concluded that it is necessary to balance the operant competencies with personal competencies for superior performance. It was also concluded that self efficacy confirms procurement officers’ competencies leading to improved performance. It was recommended that the PPDA unit should carry out competence profiling for procurement officers with specific focus on personal competencies. Also, it was recommended that attributes of self efficacy in procurement roles be ascertained and trained in order to enhance procurement officers’ performance.