ABSTRACT
In any institution, success is majorly determined by the procurement practices adopted and how well these procurement practices are implemented. A function that greatly influences the strategies of an organization, as well as the smooth flow of services, is the procurement function which is built around procurement practices. The study specifically assessed the effect of procurement planning, financial resource management, strategic partnerships and inventory management on supply chain performance. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive research design and the target population was 11 selected public Universities in Kenya. Purposive sampling was used resulting in a sample size of 66 staff members who included the heads and deputies of the procurement unit, finance and stores section in the selected Universities. The heads and deputies were chosen because they were in charge of the entire procurement process and are involved in coming up and implementing procurement practices thus they would provide the relevant information for the study. Questionnaires were used to collect data. The data collected was analyzed through descriptive statistics and displayed by the use of tables. Correlation analysis followed by multivariate regression analysis was conducted between the independent variables and the dependent variable. Results showed a positive and strong statistically significant relationship between strategic partnership, inventory management and supply chain performance. The study also established a statistically insignificant relationship between procurement planning, financial resource management and supply chain performance. Among the four variables, strategic partnerships ranked first, inventory management second, procurement planning third while financial resource management ranked fourth. The study concluded that strategic partnerships, inventory management, procurement planning and financial resource management were good measures of procurement practices and supply chain performance. However, more research needs to be carried out to discover the salient variables contributing to supply chain performance to gain full insight into the impact of procurement practices on supply chain performance. The policy implication is that Universities should embark on training of supply chain players to equip them with relevant knowledge on procurement practices and supply chain performance. The research findings will be of help to both public and private entities in the adoption of the best procurement practices that aid in enhancing performance of their supply chains.