The evaluative criteria of the data analysis using GT

The GT is an integrated systematic process of data analysis that results into the development of another theory (framework). Since the readers were not present at the time of doing this process, they needed a guideline in order to decide about the quality of the emerging theory. Guided by (Strauss & Corbin, 1996) the final step to help the readers judge sufficiency of this study, the following were discussed:

5.4.1 Selection of the sample

The sample comprised of three councils and three respondents from each council thus, the Procurement Officer who was also the secretary for the IPC, Finance Officer who was a mandatory member of the IPC, and Chairperson of the IPC. At one of the councils, we selected four respondents because the secretary, by virtue of that council’s arrangement, was not supposed to come from the procurement unit (PU) but DoA. This meant that a fourth person had to be incorporated from the PU in order to make the sample complete. The sample was also selected

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based on the fact that these people were the decision-makers on matters relating to procurements. This way of selecting respondents removed the chances of biasness.

The process of interviewing the people created the data, which could be broken down into discrete parts and got examined for their similarities and differences concerning alignment compliance issues. It is from these data that arose axial categories of procurement functionality, structure of procurement function, public procurement structure, training of procurement professional, benefits, and organisational structure, the culture of leadership, ICT infrastructure and maverick buying which supported the main category. The categories cited in two above were interwoven. They then relied on each other when it came to the effects of compliance. Normally, when the procurement professional first joins the council, they were excited about the opportunity on how they will contribute to councils. They did so since they were professionals and were ready to prove their abilities. They however soon stumbled into the many challenges of working in the city councils. They then discovered that the procurement function is not properly aligned and that they work as orphans.

The researcher collected data by himself and generally dipped into it from the start of the first collection to the end. In this study, the initial process of codes identified the themes regarding challenges leading to non-compliance. The more the procurement function was poorly aligned, the less qualified the procurement professionals were, the high the no-compliance levels were recorded. As far as the study was concerned, the desire to understand what weakens compliance levels drove the sampling process. After the sampling was completed, the narratives were created to verify the findings.

This study began as an exploration of experiences of those involved in public procurements about the transition of the function, which had an effect on the councils’ level of compliance. During the open coding, the researcher looked for meanings of these discrete parts while coding the transcript. As the analysis continued in the axial phase, relationships among the categories were identified. At this stage, it was difficult to completely weed any personal experience from the process. Findings were to be progressively verified against personal observations during coding phases. In refining the theory, the data was still being reviewed to make sure that it captured the essence of the phenomenon. When congruencies were found, the analyses and the theories were automatically validated.

The categories of axials primarily emerged because the interviews were designed in the way that the first questions asked made the respondents express themselves freely. For example, the procurement specialists talked about their role and reasons for procurement. Their responses focused much on the achievement of value in all their activities while following the PPRs. In this regard, added value became an axial category. However, it was difficult to connect this concept to the core category of compliance. Therefore, in order to understand the concept of added value, a detailed exploration of the literature was done. The literature revealed that the concept of added value was complex. It required quite a lot of factors to be fulfilled in order for the achievement of added value to be felt. While it might be true that the main driver for a procurer was value addition, it was not easy to achieve the anticipated value given the challenges they encountered in

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the process. However, this remained the utmost driver for most of the procurement professionals for staying on the job. And, right from the first data collected, it looked difficult as to whether the core concepts would be identified or get described. However, as data were collected, compared, and analysed, the categories that emerged started to conceptualise. The combination of characteristics and strategies already described in chapter four were a symbol for this. In summary, this evaluative criterion helped provide the readers with valuable information for them to follow the logic of the coding processes and evaluate the results presented in the preceding chapters.