Transparency level of the electronic procurement system in Malaysia

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.