Employee Perceptions of the Electronic Procurement System (EPS) and Rate of Adoption of EPS by the Federal Public Hospitals in Edo State of Nigeria Based on the Diffusion of Innovations Theory

This study investigated the perception of electronic procurement (e-procurement) system and rate of adoption in the federal public hospitals in Edo State of Nigeria. The rate of adoption is premised on Rogers’ diffusion of innovations approach using the process of innovation characteristics: relative advantage, trialability, compatibility, observability, and complexity of e-procurement system to evaluate the rate at which organizations adopt new innovations. The degrees of difficulties faced by the hospitals in the adoption of e-procurement system and the benefits of the e-procurement system adoption were also studied. The study used convenience sampling technique to select 45 management staff of procurement departments of three federal public hospitals spread across Edo State. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique was used to estimate the model that was developed. The findings showed that the greatest challenge faced by the hospitals in the adoption of EPS was the lack of e-procurement system infrastructure due to inadequate funding. On the benefits of adopting EPS in the hospitals, the findings showed that reduction in wastage in the time lost in the process of procurement of materials and mistakes that emanate from retyping and exchange of documents, increased efficiency of business operations were the major advantages of e-procurement system adoption. The regression results demonstrated that all the exogenous variables were significant and positively influenced the rate of adoption in the federal public hospitals in Edo State, except complexity of e-procurement system that had a significant negative predictor on management of the hospitals’ policy decision to adopt electronic procurement system. The relative advantage of e-procurement system score was the best predictor of respondents’ attitudes toward rate of adoption of new innovations in the hospitals. It is therefore recommended that innovations that are simple and user-friendly in design should be adopted. Simpler the innovation, quicker the adoption by the employees of an organization. Management of the hospitals’ procurement department should deploy the necessary information technology infrastructure, personnel with requisite expertise, digital skills, and knowledge for the successful adoption of the e-procurement system.