CODE OF CONDUCT AND PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT IN SELECTED PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS: EVIDENCE IN KENYA

Economic and social challenges have obliged many organizations to re-evaluate their manner and approach in maintaining sustainable relationships with their customers. It has been witnessed in most successful organizations that implementation of ethical practices in procurement has ensured customers get the best services. The paper’s objective is to establish the relationship between codes of conduct and procurement management. The study was guided by virtue ethical theory. Correlation research design was used with a target population of 1100 tendering committee in 220 public secondary schools. A sample size was 294 respondents was selected using stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential methods were utilized for data analysis and presentation. The findings indicated that code of conduct had significant effect on procurement management (P=0.000<0.05). The study recommended that the schools should continuously review of procurement staff from breach of code of conduct to reduce fraud and corruption. Therefore, there is need to tighten internal control systems in detecting procurement corruption and fraud to ensure integrity in the process. The study suggested further study to be done in internal control system and procurement management. KEYWORDS: Code of Conduct, Procurement Management, Correlation Design, Kenya