Abstract:
Public procurement around the world is one major means the governments resort to for fulfilling developmental needs. Various reforms have been undertaken, especially in developing countries like Pakistan, to achieve the ultimate goal for public procurement. Public procurement, particularly procurement planning, faces multiple challenges throughout the procurement process. Procurement planning involves making future decisions that will impact procurement need. Procurement planning has great significance to the success of the procurement process; however, it has not been given due importance in public procurement organizations. The aim of this study is to propose a framework for procurement planning in public procurement organizations. The study adopted a qualitative approach to collect and analyze qualitative data. Unstructured and semi structured interviews through face to face interaction were used to collect Primary data from respondents on current procurement practices in public procurement organizations. Literature review helped to identify challenges being faced in procurement planning. The target population was procurement officers in public procurement organizations especially dealing with the procurement of defence stores in Pakistan. Thematic data analysis techniques were adopted to analyze qualitative data. The study discovered current procurement processes being followed by public procurement organizations which can be categorized into eleven (11) stages to develop their annual procurement plans. In addition, the study restricted to seven (07) challenges faced in procurement planning. Among them are setting high standards, absence of functional procurement units, inadequate qualified personnel/professional workforce, influence on choice of procurement, poor record management, poor coordination among departments and difficulty in writing specifications. However, some of these challenges were also in themselves causes of the challenges faced. These causes of challenges were grouped into five categories namely; organizational, professional, political, legislative, economic and market conditions. Further, it was revealed that sustainable procurement planning and risk management were not currently part of the procurement planning process. Moreover, there are challenges inherent in the planning process. The study, recommends constituting a team of relevant personnel to undertake procurement planning for every financial year. Also PublicProcurement Authority (PPRA) should intensify training programs on procurement process. Furthermore, the review should incorporate sustainable procurement planning and risk planning in the process as well. II
