Transparency level of the electronic procurement system in Malaysia
Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting
ISSN: 1985-2517
Article publication date: 13 December 2021
Issue publication date: 31 May 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the level of transparency of the electronic procurement (e-procurement) system in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the content analysis method, 23 transparency disclosure items from the Website Attribute Evaluation System (WAES) checklist were used to evaluate the transparency level of the e-procurement system. The data gathered from the WAES were analysed using frequency and percentage based on the various categories of transparency.
Findings
The study reveals that the e-procurement system disclosed 17 out of the 23 WAES transparency disclosure items, which represents a transparency disclosure level of 73.91%. Of the five categories of disclosure, i.e. ownership, contact information, organizational information, citizen consequences and freshness, the detailed results show that the items are fully disclosed for only two categories, and for three categories, i.e. ownership, contact information and organizational information, the items are not fully disclosed.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of the present research offer a positive indication that the government is moving in the right direction, particularly in efforts to reduce the corruption level in procurement activities and to improve the accountability level of the government.
Originality/value
The present study is among the few studies that attempts to address a fundamental issue of transparency in the public procurement system that has an important relationship with the occurrence of corruption in procurement activities.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study was coordinated by the Research Management Centre (RMC), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), and funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS17-008-0574).
Citation
Ahmad, H., Abul Hassan, S.H. and Ismail, S. (2023), "Transparency level of the electronic procurement system in Malaysia", Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 592-606. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRA-07-2021-0181
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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