Public sector procurement practices and their influence on service delivery in technical universities: Evidence from Ghana

Abstract

This study aims to assess the public sector procurement practices implemented in technical universities in Ghana and to examine their influence on public sector service delivery within these institutions. Guided by a positivist philosophy, the study employed a quantitative research approach and an explanatory research design to test the hypothesised relationship between procurement practices and service delivery outcomes. The study employed the positivist research paradigm, a quantitative research approach, an explanatory research design and structural equation modelling (SEM) to validate the measurement model and test the structural relationships. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaires administered to 235 employees across management, procurement, finance, stores and audit departments in three technical universities, Takoradi, Cape Coast and Sunyani through the help of simple random sampling technique. Using SmartPLS and structural equation modelling, the study evaluated the reliability and validity of the measurement model, assessed model fit and estimated the structural relationships between variables. The main findings demonstrate that (i) public sector procurement practices are implemented at a moderate level across the technical universities, with higher performance in supplier evaluation, contract negotiation and payment processing, (ii) procurement practices did not significantly influence service delivery, despite a positive but statistically insignificant path coefficient, indicating that procurement alone may not be a strong driver of service delivery outcomes within the higher education context, and (iii) the factors affecting service delivery in technical universities may be broader and more complex, potentially involving governance structures, resource availability, institutional capacity and administrative efficiency. These results contribute new empirical evidence to the procurement literature by highlighting sector-specific dynamics in higher education and suggest the need for more integrated institutional reforms, enhanced procurement monitoring and further research exploring mediating and moderating variables that may influence service delivery performance in Ghana’s technical universities.