Travel Claim Management on Zimbabwean Public Universities, Practice, Challenges and Opportunities: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This systematic review examines travel claim management practices in Zimbabwean public universities and focuses on governance effectiveness, administrative and financial accountability. Its main purpose is to review existing literature and empirical evidence on travel claim management in higher education institutions. The objectives of the study are, to synthesize existing literature on Zimbabwean Universities travel claim management and practice, to identify challenges affecting travel claim processing and reimbursement, and to examine opportunities and practice to improve travel claim management. The study adopts a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) framework. From a pool of 116 articles extracted from Google scholar and Scopus databases 21 articles were selected for the final inclusion based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study reveals that despite growing international evidence supporting automation on travel claim management, a significant research gap exists where Zimbabwean universities rely mostly on manual systems. The findings of the systematic review revealed a persistent reliance on manual systems and a significant unacquitted travel advances. The results indicated that automation enhances compliance and improves financial transparency. This study recommends the adoption of integrated digital travel management systems.