LITERATURE REVIEW: GAPS IN THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT RECORDS

MANAGEMENT

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 LITERATURE REVIEW

Public procurement refers to the process by which the public authorities tend to purchase

equipment by certain government-owned enterprises for the services such as services and works.

The case of public procurement accounts for most of the taxpayers' money and thus governments

are required to carry it out as efficiently as possible and with a high rate of standards in terms of

conduct to make sure that there is a high rate of service delivery and safeguard the public

interest. Public procurement has thus over time been identified as the most vulnerable activity in

any government around the globe. There is thus a need to show integrity in the entire

procurement cycle as well as ensure that there is a high case of accountability and transparency

in the long run. Aulich (2020), transparency in the whole process is expected to define the

measures to control corruption in the entire process of corruption (Douh, 2016, p. 194). The

process of transparency and accountability are developed through a thorough review of all the

public records and further make active interactions with all the entities to ensure there is a

continuous process of what should be done to ensure all the activities are in line with the

requirements (Oladimeji & Olusegun, 2018, p. 6). There is thus a need to have proper record

keeping of the procurement proceedings and ensure that they are in line with the international

standards (Douh, 2016, p. 194). However, despite the need, there have been multiple issues in

the records management that have been brought about by the influence and lack of transparency

in the management of the records.

All around the globe, the process of record-keeping is seen as a means to ensure there is

transparency as well as accountability and this helps reduce the rate of corruption by a huge

margin. Records are the documents that are put together as a form of evidence by a certain group

to make there in pursuance of legal obligations in all the transactions which are made by the
entity. Such can be in the form of books, maps, machine-readable materials, or documentaries

but regardless of their physical characteristics or form, they act as evidence in the procurement

process for the business.

Records management refers to the field which is responsible for ensuring that there is

systematic control in the process of creating, maintaining, and disposition the records as

required. Such also includes the requirements of acquiring and maintaining the required evidence

of the information about the business activities and form in terms of the records (Baiden et al.,

2019, p. 493). Such comes about as a legal requirement for the case of public entities to ensure

they keep accurate records to make sure that they follow the needs of the institutional memories

and have documentary backing for the decisions which might be taken by the entity. Aulich

(2020), the records are kept to ensure that they can keep the proper accountability of all the

actions which happen within the business entity. For an entity to keep proper management of the

records, there is a need to have a record management process that is well prescribed as per the

international standards of practice. As such, procurement is one of the crucial areas which needs

attention in the case of record keeping.

Aulich (2020), the procurement process can be dated back to between 2400 and 2800 BC.

The case is seen in the case of Syria where there was an order which contained an order of 50

jars needed for smooth oil as well as 600 jars required for the grains. This showed that there was

record-keeping for the procurement during this period (Baiden et al., 2019, p. 493). The case of

accountability and transparency are crucial elements in the procurement process. Through the

case of improper documentation and ineffective procurement records, there is an expectation that

there will be litigation, corruption and in extreme cases, there will also be imprisonment.
 The public entities which practice good cases of public procurement management tend to

uphold the case of record management as a crucial factor. This is because in such cases, the

company receives a good public image and in turn profitability. Also, the dysfunctional records

tend to reduce the ability of companies to indicate cases of transparency in the procurement and

this eventually leads to corruption and thus the loss of funds. The oversight authorities have

indicated that there is a need to have transparency when it comes to public procurement as such,

through an improved process public procurement process will, in turn, mean that the transactions

are done in an orderly manner and realize the full potential of the public entities (Oladimeji &

Olusegun, 2018, p. 9). There will also be a reduction in the vulnerability which comes about due

to poor records management and inefficiency which relates to the procurement process at large.

Most of the countries tend to present procurement acts that act as guidelines in the

regulation of public procurement (Douh, 2016, p. 195). The confinement acts are expected to be

followed by all the public institutions and failure to do so is followed by disciplinary actions for

the persons involved or the entities as a general. It is evident that poor public procurement tends

to increase the rate of corruption in a country and therefore governments strive to reduce the

irregularities in the procurement process to define the aspects of transparency and accountability

for the government at large.

Benefits of public procurement and record-keeping

Procurement is a process that requires active interactions within all the involved parties

and as such, it is one of the most sensitive areas when it comes to record-keeping. Human

memory is often short-lived and there is an issue when it comes to documentary evidence when it

comes to word of mouth. As such, for public entities, appropriate record-keeping gives a better

platform where they can be able to provide details for verification as well as review whenever
asked by the relevant public institutions. Aulich (2020), proper record keeping helps ensure that

all the information which is recorded is reliable and follows the guidelines which have been put

in place. It further makes sure that there is an ease of accessibility to information and that there is

an authentic as well as a reliable basis when it comes to the fight against corruption cases.

Challenges

Public procurement record-keeping is faced with many challenges which have been

evident in many countries around the globe. First, there are cases where there is noncompliance

to the laws of procurement. Also, there are issues with the fragmentation of the files which have

been used in the procurement process (Ottou et al., 2019, p. 493). There have also been cases of

public entities maintaining procurement files that have been developed informally. There have

also been cases where people believe that the procurement process is a case that should not be

taken as a certain responsibility to any person. There are also cases where the management fails

to provide appropriate training to the procurement team such as training and this leads to the staff

failing in delivering the appropriate roles in the development of their record management

principles.

The records management process for a public institution

Having proper records management is an important element in the protection of the entity

when it comes to legal matters as well as ensuring that the organization can achieve its goals.

Multiple researchers have shown different efforts in the records management cases, in one case,

Formtek (2012) showed the case of the best values as well as practices that should be considered

in the management of efficient records as well as the best management system. Formtek shows in

his research that the case of the best practice relates to the public entities being involved in

measures that help towards efficient management of the records used in the procurement process.
He recommends that there should first be the appointment of a leader who acts as the steering

committee and the records manager for all the procurement records and other supporting staff

who include the information technology team, human resource, legal counsel, and the tax and

finance departments who help in ensuring that the program runs in the right direction (Douh,

2016, p. 197). He points that the committee is effective in making sure that the records put in

place are in line with the expectations and that there is compliance with the records management

in the long run (Baiden et al., 2019, p. 493). The committee is expected to come up with a

schedule for regular meetings which should be used in the assessment for the case of the state of

the program.

Also, Formtek points out that there should be a wide development of organizational

communication. In this case, the records management committee is expected to make sure that

there is adequate communication of all the records and this should be done on a timely basis to

ensure that all the information is adequately shared. he points that the best way to do this is to

communicate the information through the use of intranet sites or occasional emails to all the

parties involved in the process. The other recommendation is that there should be an inclusion of

policies as well as procedures and this should be done regularly (Douh, 2016, p. 197). The

recommendation points that there should be adherence to the process by having policies that

guide the process of record management of public institutions and its consistency across the

organization(Oladimeji & Olusegun, 2018, p. 9). He points that the policies should be able to

consider both physical and electronic records. Formtek further argues that there should also be a

case of auditing to define the situation of public records. He points that the audit of any

organization should show the consistency of the reorganization and further implies that the long-

term goals of the organization in terms of credibility should be evident.

 According to Mountain (2015), the best public management records practice includes the

use of retention policy which helps in the retention of the procurement records, ensuring that

there is compliance with the policies as well as cases of indexing and accountability (Mountain,

2015). The process of record retention relates to the method used in the protection of the

company assets to ensure there is minimal litigation as well as compliance to the risks. It further

helps to make sure that there is legal maintenance of the records and in the event, there is the

disposal of the records, the process is done systematically (Baiden et al., 2019, p. 493). The

process helps a company to be able to control all the information storage costs in the company,

ensure there is proper management of the intellectual properties and ensure that information can

be easily retrieved when it comes to legal issues (Ottou et al., 2019, p. 493). According to

Mountain, record retention is broken into four main areas which include the identification of the

most significant record groups, coming up with significant control groups, performing the

needed legal research, and lastly having an overlaying of the operational retention strategy in the

long run (Mountain, 2015).

The second management strategy involves compliance as per the policies and the

appropriate procedures (Mountain, 2015). According to Mountain, the record management

process for the public entities should use all the records management process and the

management process of the program as per the legal needs and the operational requirements

(Mountain, 2015). The other case is the process of indexing. He argues that the appropriate

management of a company's needs in terms of procurement is defined by attaining the

information as per the litigation process and the compliance process in the long run. The other

practices involve the case of accountability as well as compliance (Mountain, 2015). This
strategy requires that the employees in all public entities should abide by the program needs and

the regulations which have been put in place.

Keeping public procurement records

There has been a norm of development where the record-keeping process has advanced

from the past cases where there was the use of hard documents. According to Aulich (2020),

there has been a need that public records should be kept in such a way that policies and

procedures used should be in line with the authoritative records in terms of authenticity and

integrity (Douh, 2016, p. 199). Also, there have been more cases of the focus on the principle of

creation and management by showing how the records should be kept and guidance on their

management. There is thus a need for the procurement process for all public records to be made

with a unique code or sequence number which one can use to retrieve the information whenever

needed (Ottou et al., 2019, p. 493). The procurement units for the case of [public entities should

also be kept in a way where they adhere to the procurement package needs to ensure there is

accountability and transparency in the information presented.

 References

Aulich, C. (2020). Competitive tendering and contract management. Australian Handbook of

Public Sector Management, 150-162. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003114925-13

Baiden, B. K., Nani, G., & Ottou, J. A. (2019). Gaps in public procurement. International

Journal of Procurement Management, 12(5), 493.

https://doi.org/10.1504/ijpm.2019.10023120

Douh, S. (2016). undefined. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 4(5), 193-200.

https://doi.org/10.13189/cea.2016.040503

Formtek. (2012). Getting both best practice and best value in a records management system. A

Formtek whitepaper.

Kerzner, H. (2018). Public procurement. John Wiley & Sons.

Mountain. (2015). A practical approach to building a comprehensive and compliant records

management program. Agnes Scott College | Agnes Scott College. Retrieved January

11, 2022, from

https://www.agnesscott.edu/facultyservices/files/documents/bestpracticesguide.pdf

Oladimeji, Y. L., & Olusegun, F. (2018). E-procurement: A strategic approach to public works

tendering. Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science, 1-12.

https://doi.org/10.9734/ajrcos/2018/v2i228744

Ottou, J. A., Baiden, B. K., & Nani, G. (2019). Gaps in public procurement records

management. International Journal of Procurement Management, 12(5), 493-517.