Beyond Rules and Regulations: Procurement Compliance Behaviour in the Malaysian Public Sector

Abstract

Public procurement is essential to promoting accountability, transparency, and value for money in the management of public funds. Despite well-established regulatory frameworks in Malaysia, persistent non-compliance continues to undermine institutional credibility and public trust. Moving beyond a rule-based perspective, this study examines organisational enablers that influence procurement compliance behaviour among public sector personnel, drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Specifically, the effects of leadership quality, training and development, and information systems on compliance behaviour are investigated. Data were collected from 230 procurement personnel across Malaysian government agencies using a structured questionnaire and analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS 4. The findings indicate that leadership quality is the most influential determinant of procurement compliance behaviour, followed by training and development and information systems, which play significant but comparatively smaller enabling roles. The model demonstrates significant explanatory power and strong out-of-sample predictive performance, as evidenced by PLSpredict analysis. These findings support Sustainable Development Goal 16 by strengthening accountable and transparent public institutions, as well as Sustainable Development Goal 12 by promoting responsible and efficient public procurement practices. The study contributes by advancing behavioural perspectives on procurement compliance and informing governance-oriented procurement reforms.