Competence of Negotiation Team on The Performance of Procurement Contracts in Tanzania

Abstract

Negotiation team has been faced with different challenges in attaining contract delivery in public sector, as a result of poor contract implementation some of contract were not completed on time while other incur a lot of cost during its execution. This study explored on whether the issue is competence of negotiation team on the performance of procurement contract in Dodoma City Council. The study employed a cross sectional research design to collect data from 67 employees of the Dodoma City Council. The study analyzed qualitative and quantitative data collected through interviews; questionnaire and document reviews by using SPSS version 25 and thematic analysis where quotes were established. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics where the mean, SD, frequencies, percent's and regression results were presented. The findings showed that negotiation team had experienced and qualified personnel with knowledge on execution of procurement contract, On the other hand, the team of negotiation has a good communication skill but what they need is contractual and technical skills, Furthermore, Organization culture and cognitive ability are not strong enough to foster the competency of negotiation team regardless of the value that they have with reference to the performance of procurement contracts. The study concludes that, the negotiation team in Dodoma City Council has good communication skills, technical skills and contracting skills which help them to undergo effective negotiation in procurement contract and thus leading to the performance of the procurement contracts. Based on the findings, it is recommended that, procuring entities shall equip the selected negotiation team which is to be used during negotiation with proper trainings on negotiation knowledge, skills and attitudes