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Background: In 2016 the UK Department of Health and Social Care published the results of a comprehensive review of efficiency in hospitals, identifying “unwarranted variation” in procurement (or purchasing) practices for materials, supplies and devices. Addressing this variation in materials and supplies procurement practice has been identified as particularly important for creating efficiencies in health service delivery. However, little is known about the behaviour and experiences of front-line individuals who make these procurement decisions, which has implications for the development of strategies to improve efficiency. The objective of this study is to improve understanding of the factors influencing procurement behaviour and decisions among requisitioners who use an internal electronic procurement portal for medical supplies and equipment, and identify areas where efficiency could be improved. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured individual interview study, following approximately 70 h of exploratory observations on site. The study context was a large London National Health Service (NHS) healthcare provider (the Trust), where we focussed primarily on purchases managed by a large hospital. Participants were drawn from requisitioners from multiple directorates across the Trust (n = 15; of these n = 2 clinical staff members, n = 13 non-clinical). Results: Four factors stood out in our analysis as directly affecting procurement decisions: (1) a high level of variation in electronic purchasing and inventory management procedures throughout the Trust, (ii) an inaccurate and cumbersome search facility on the internal electronic procurement platform, exacerbated by poor IT skills training and support (iii) an inefficient purchase approvals system and (iv) multiple working sites and cluttered environments. We observed that these factors led requisitioners to employ a variety of strategies or so-called ‘workarounds’ to overcome the challenges they encountered, includ, Policy Analysis

Background: In 2016 the UK Department of Health and Social Care published the results of a comprehensive review of efficiency in hospitals, identifying “unwarranted variation” in procurement (or purchasing) practices for materials, supplies and devices. Addressing this variation in materials and supplies procurement practice has been identified as particularly important for creating efficiencies in health service delivery. However, little is known about the behaviour and experiences of front-line individuals who make these procurement decisions, which has implications for the development of strategies to improve efficiency. The objective of this study is to improve understanding of the factors influencing procurement behaviour and decisions among requisitioners who use an internal electronic procurement portal for medical supplies and equipment, and identify areas where efficiency could be improved. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured individual interview study, following approximately 70 h of exploratory observations on site. The study context was a large London National Health Service (NHS) healthcare provider (the Trust), where we focussed primarily on purchases managed by a large hospital. Participants were drawn from requisitioners from multiple directorates across the Trust (n = 15; of these n = 2 clinical staff members, n = 13 non-clinical). Results: Four factors stood out in our analysis as directly affecting procurement decisions: (1) a high level of variation in electronic purchasing and inventory management procedures throughout the Trust, (ii) an inaccurate and cumbersome search facility on the internal electronic procurement platform, exacerbated by poor IT skills training and support (iii) an inefficient purchase approvals system and (iv) multiple working sites and cluttered environments. We observed that these factors led requisitioners to employ a variety of strategies or so-called ‘workarounds’ to overcome the challenges they encountered, includ, Policy Analysis

The general objective of this study was to examine the stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption in public sector. The specific research objectives of the study were to: evaluate the perceived influences of legal framework, performance expectancy, relative advantage and attitude   towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System   implementation. The study adopted positivism philosophy and cross-sectional survey research design. The study also used stratified sampling technique. Sample size was 157 respondents. A questionnaire with closed ended questions and documentary review were used for data collection. The collected data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling with the help of SmartPLS 3 software. Findings reveal that all critical success factors were perceived the same by stakeholders (procurement experts and suppliers) towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System adoption. The study concludes that there is no significant difference with regard to stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption. The study recommends paying attention to relative advantage, performance expectancy and legal framework to significantly change the mindset of all stakeholders in the country in supporting of Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System implementation.

The general objective of this study was to examine the stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption in public sector. The specific research objectives of the study were to: evaluate the perceived influences of legal framework, performance expectancy, relative advantage and attitude   towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System   implementation. The study adopted positivism philosophy and cross-sectional survey research design. The study also used stratified sampling technique. Sample size was 157 respondents. A questionnaire with closed ended questions and documentary review were used for data collection. The collected data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling with the help of SmartPLS 3 software. Findings reveal that all critical success factors were perceived the same by stakeholders (procurement experts and suppliers) towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System adoption. The study concludes that there is no significant difference with regard to stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption. The study recommends paying attention to relative advantage, performance expectancy and legal framework to significantly change the mindset of all stakeholders in the country in supporting of Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System implementation.

The general objective of this study was to examine the stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption in public sector. The specific research objectives of the study were to: evaluate the perceived influences of legal framework, performance expectancy, relative advantage and attitude   towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System   implementation. The study adopted positivism philosophy and cross-sectional survey research design. The study also used stratified sampling technique. Sample size was 157 respondents. A questionnaire with closed ended questions and documentary review were used for data collection. The collected data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling with the help of SmartPLS 3 software. Findings reveal that all critical success factors were perceived the same by stakeholders (procurement experts and suppliers) towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System adoption. The study concludes that there is no significant difference with regard to stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption. The study recommends paying attention to relative advantage, performance expectancy and legal framework to significantly change the mindset of all stakeholders in the country in supporting of Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System implementation.

The general objective of this study was to examine the stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption in public sector. The specific research objectives of the study were to: evaluate the perceived influences of legal framework, performance expectancy, relative advantage and attitude   towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System   implementation. The study adopted positivism philosophy and cross-sectional survey research design. The study also used stratified sampling technique. Sample size was 157 respondents. A questionnaire with closed ended questions and documentary review were used for data collection. The collected data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling with the help of SmartPLS 3 software. Findings reveal that all critical success factors were perceived the same by stakeholders (procurement experts and suppliers) towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System adoption. The study concludes that there is no significant difference with regard to stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption. The study recommends paying attention to relative advantage, performance expectancy and legal framework to significantly change the mindset of all stakeholders in the country in supporting of Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System implementation.

The general objective of this study was to examine the stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption in public sector. The specific research objectives of the study were to: evaluate the perceived influences of legal framework, performance expectancy, relative advantage and attitude   towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System   implementation. The study adopted positivism philosophy and cross-sectional survey research design. The study also used stratified sampling technique. Sample size was 157 respondents. A questionnaire with closed ended questions and documentary review were used for data collection. The collected data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling with the help of SmartPLS 3 software. Findings reveal that all critical success factors were perceived the same by stakeholders (procurement experts and suppliers) towards Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System adoption. The study concludes that there is no significant difference with regard to stakeholders’ perception on critical success factors influencing Tanzania National electronic Procurement System adoption. The study recommends paying attention to relative advantage, performance expectancy and legal framework to significantly change the mindset of all stakeholders in the country in supporting of Tanzania National Electronic Procurement System implementation.

Although various pieces of European secondary law law use the terms "mise en concurrence" ("calling for competition" or "competitive tendering procedure") they provide no definition of the expression "obligation de mise en concurrence" ("obligation to call for competition"). At the very beginning, the author therefore defines what is meant thereby in his thesis, i.e. "a more or less formalized action which a public or a private person has to follow in order to provoke a competition or a contest between potentially interested persons that perform an economic activity, in order to grant an individual advantage to one or several of them". The first part of the work deals with the regime of competitive tendering of the public procurement directives which the Court of Justice has considered "as a whole" to be the "core" of European law on public contracts. First, this part examins the development of the public procurement directives from 1971 on. The author shows that the puzzling evolution of the personal scope of the public procurement directives is guided by the personal scope of European primary law. While considering the remedies directives, the author examines to what extent they introduce requirements beyond the principle of effective judicial protection. While some of their requirements obviously do so, the remedies directives however remain very far from standardizing the means of redress at national level. Due to the member States' judicial autonomy, the compelling force of EU primary law differs from one member State to another. The same applies within the scope of the remedies directives as they let the member States a large degree of autonomy. The author then turns to examine the contribution of the procurement directives 2004/17/CE, 2004/18/CE and 2009/81/CE, their scope of application, as well as the concepts of public works concession and service concession. Various other questions are dealt with in the first part, such as the use of functional interpreta

Although various pieces of European secondary law law use the terms "mise en concurrence" ("calling for competition" or "competitive tendering procedure") they provide no definition of the expression "obligation de mise en concurrence" ("obligation to call for competition"). At the very beginning, the author therefore defines what is meant thereby in his thesis, i.e. "a more or less formalized action which a public or a private person has to follow in order to provoke a competition or a contest between potentially interested persons that perform an economic activity, in order to grant an individual advantage to one or several of them". The first part of the work deals with the regime of competitive tendering of the public procurement directives which the Court of Justice has considered "as a whole" to be the "core" of European law on public contracts. First, this part examins the development of the public procurement directives from 1971 on. The author shows that the puzzling evolution of the personal scope of the public procurement directives is guided by the personal scope of European primary law. While considering the remedies directives, the author examines to what extent they introduce requirements beyond the principle of effective judicial protection. While some of their requirements obviously do so, the remedies directives however remain very far from standardizing the means of redress at national level. Due to the member States' judicial autonomy, the compelling force of EU primary law differs from one member State to another. The same applies within the scope of the remedies directives as they let the member States a large degree of autonomy. The author then turns to examine the contribution of the procurement directives 2004/17/CE, 2004/18/CE and 2009/81/CE, their scope of application, as well as the concepts of public works concession and service concession. Various other questions are dealt with in the first part, such as the use of functional interpreta

This study aimed to identify how electronic procurement systems created by the government on the national scene are helping to reduce the length of proceedings, providing greater transparency and greater economy; focusing on analyzing the technical and cultural difficulties faced by public employees. The object of study was the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte - IFRN, and the subjects the public employees responsible for the electronic procurement process. Regarding methodological procedures was used the method of case study with a qualitative approach with data collection via depth interviews and qualitative content analysis. By analyzing the subjects' statements is observed that the process of electronic contracts is complex and dynamic, with noticeable concern of those about transparency, efficiency and expedite of the process. We identified some difficulties such as the need for greater integration between systems and a program of continued training. It is concluded that not only needs the existence of laws to make the public service to fulfill its role. It is necessary that public employees feel part of the process, being duly motivated and empowered to exercise this important function for society., A presente pesquisa teve como propósito identificar como os sistemas eletrônicos de contratações criados pelo governo no cenário nacional estão ajudando a diminuir a morosidade dos processos, possibilitando uma maior transparência e maior economia; tendo como foco analisar as dificuldades técnicas e culturais enfrentadas pelos servidores. O objeto de estudo foi o Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte – IFRN, e os sujeitos os servidores responsáveis pelo processo de contratação eletrônica. Quanto aos procedimentos metodológicos utilizou-se o método de estudo de caso com abordagem qualitativa, com coleta de dados via entrevistas em profundidade e análise qualitativa de conteúdo. Pela análise das falas dos sujeitos constata-se que o processo de contratações eletrônicas é complexo e dinâmico, sendo perceptível a preocupação dos mesmos pela transparência, eficiência e celeridade do processo. Identificaram-se algumas dificuldades como a necessidade de uma maior integração entre os sistemas e um programa de capacitação permanente. Conclui-se que não basta apenas a existência de legislações para fazer o serviço público cumprir o seu papel. É necessário que os agentes públicos se sintam parte do processo, estando devidamente motivados e capacitados a exercerem essa função tão importante para a sociedade.

This study aimed to identify how electronic procurement systems created by the government on the national scene are helping to reduce the length of proceedings, providing greater transparency and greater economy; focusing on analyzing the technical and cultural difficulties faced by public employees. The object of study was the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte - IFRN, and the subjects the public employees responsible for the electronic procurement process. Regarding methodological procedures was used the method of case study with a qualitative approach with data collection via depth interviews and qualitative content analysis. By analyzing the subjects' statements is observed that the process of electronic contracts is complex and dynamic, with noticeable concern of those about transparency, efficiency and expedite of the process. We identified some difficulties such as the need for greater integration between systems and a program of continued training. It is concluded that not only needs the existence of laws to make the public service to fulfill its role. It is necessary that public employees feel part of the process, being duly motivated and empowered to exercise this important function for society., A presente pesquisa teve como propósito identificar como os sistemas eletrônicos de contratações criados pelo governo no cenário nacional estão ajudando a diminuir a morosidade dos processos, possibilitando uma maior transparência e maior economia; tendo como foco analisar as dificuldades técnicas e culturais enfrentadas pelos servidores. O objeto de estudo foi o Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte – IFRN, e os sujeitos os servidores responsáveis pelo processo de contratação eletrônica. Quanto aos procedimentos metodológicos utilizou-se o método de estudo de caso com abordagem qualitativa, com coleta de dados via entrevistas em profundidade e análise qualitativa de conteúdo. Pela análise das falas dos sujeitos constata-se que o processo de contratações eletrônicas é complexo e dinâmico, sendo perceptível a preocupação dos mesmos pela transparência, eficiência e celeridade do processo. Identificaram-se algumas dificuldades como a necessidade de uma maior integração entre os sistemas e um programa de capacitação permanente. Conclui-se que não basta apenas a existência de legislações para fazer o serviço público cumprir o seu papel. É necessário que os agentes públicos se sintam parte do processo, estando devidamente motivados e capacitados a exercerem essa função tão importante para a sociedade.

En el presente texto se hace una reflexión acerca de los Contratos B2B, normas aplicables a los mismos en el Convenio de la Haya, Convenio de Roma, LexMercatoria, Lex Suave. La convención sobre la contratación electrónica, el comercio electrónico y finalmente los Incoterms.AbstractThis paper pretends a reflection on the B2B contracts, The Hague Convention lules, Rome Convention, Lex Mercatoria, soft law, the electronic contracting convention, electronic rade convention, and the Incoterms.RésuméDans cet article, une réflexion sur les contrats B2B, les mêmes règles de la Convention de La Haye, la Convention de Rome, Lexmercatoria, Lex de vientmou. La convention sur les contrats électroniques, rade électronique en fin Incoterms.

Electronic marketplaces (e-marketplaces) have been researched over many years from the study of electronic data interchange (EDI) systems to the current internet based trading platforms. Early e-marketplaces connected a buyer and supplier using proprietary systems that established a market hierarchy. The buyer was responsible for the system, established the terms of trade and the electronically enabled supplier could connect to the system. These systems were costly to build, which limited their use, and only organisations with an integrated system could use them. The web based e-marketplaces opened up the possibility of connecting many buyers and suppliers and enabling electronic transactions. The e-marketplace offers opportunities for establishing trade relationships with many organisations across the world. Business to business (B2B) e-commerce is a significant part of the Australian economy and there are opportunities to take advantage of e-marketplace trading. One of the advantages of electronic trading is the ability of the technology to deliver transaction benefits; these can have a significant impact on organisations regardless of organisational size. However, despite the potential of the e-marketplace to deliver organisational benefits there have been limited studies which consider the strategic implementation of e-marketplace trading. Organisational strategy and the implementation of strategic initiatives involve interactions between organisational structures and agents. The analytical dualism this represents complicates uncovering the fundamental causes of e-marketplace participation. Not only does the adoption of e-marketplace trading impact on the buyer and supplier organisations, it introduces the e-marketplace vendor organisation and the e-marketplace technology into the participation decision. The complexity of the interactions across organisational structures and between organisational agents and technology adoption can produce a diversity of outcome

La introducción de la tecnología en el ámbito comercial, laboral, personal, cotidiano del ser humano; ha obligado a las legislaciones a nivel mundial a incursionar en esta nueva era del siglo XXI, la cual traspasa fronteras, límites ideológicos y de lenguaje. La actualización y aprendizaje del legislador venezolano en esta materia es lo que ha impulsado el desarrollo de la presente investigación, en la cual se estudia de manera genérica la conceptualización del documento electrónico; nacimiento del contrato electrónico, perfeccionamiento del mismo, normas aplicables; firma electrónica con sus respectivas teorías y la aplicación en Venezuela; concluyendo la importancia de la Ley que rige la materia en cuanto abre la posibilidad de brindar al ámbito tecnológico un seguridad jurídica a las relaciones comerciales y a las inversiones tanto nacionales como extranjeras., The introduction of technology in the commercial, labor, personal, everyday field of human beings; laws around the world have been forced to venture into this new era of the 21st century, which transcends borders, limits of language and ideological. Updating and learning of the Venezuelan legislator in this matter is what has driven the development of the present investigation, in which study generically of the conceptualization of the electronic document; birth of the electronic contract, the same development standards; signature electronics with their respective theories and application in Venezuela; concluding the importance of the law governing the matter as soon as it opens the possibility of technology to provide legal certainty to both national and foreign investment and trade relations.

La introducción de la tecnología en el ámbito comercial, laboral, personal, cotidiano del ser humano; ha obligado a las legislaciones a nivel mundial a incursionar en esta nueva era del siglo XXI, la cual traspasa fronteras, límites ideológicos y de lenguaje. La actualización y aprendizaje del legislador venezolano en esta materia es lo que ha impulsado el desarrollo de la presente investigación, en la cual se estudia de manera genérica la conceptualización del documento electrónico; nacimiento del contrato electrónico, perfeccionamiento del mismo, normas aplicables; firma electrónica con sus respectivas teorías y la aplicación en Venezuela; concluyendo la importancia de la Ley que rige la materia en cuanto abre la posibilidad de brindar al ámbito tecnológico un seguridad jurídica a las relaciones comerciales y a las inversiones tanto nacionales como extranjeras., The introduction of technology in the commercial, labor, personal, everyday field of human beings; laws around the world have been forced to venture into this new era of the 21st century, which transcends borders, limits of language and ideological. Updating and learning of the Venezuelan legislator in this matter is what has driven the development of the present investigation, in which study generically of the conceptualization of the electronic document; birth of the electronic contract, the same development standards; signature electronics with their respective theories and application in Venezuela; concluding the importance of the law governing the matter as soon as it opens the possibility of technology to provide legal certainty to both national and foreign investment and trade relations.

Public procurement is a knowledge-based process. It involves, amongst others the knowledge of needs and trends, knowledge of concerned products or services, on their evolution in time and knowledge about actors able to offer them. The knowledge of political and legal context should be also considered as well as the environmental and social impact. Electronic procurement aims in reducing the amount of paper, but also in quicker and more knowledgeable processing of proposals and decision taking. We consider procurement activity as a part of a global organizational knowledge flow. This work goal is to analyze the whole process, identify the elements of knowledge necessary for successful purchase processing and to study the contribution of AI approaches and techniques to support the above elements.

KNUT is one of the projects financed by VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems. It is a project on public procurement of telecommunication services and was one of the few projects, especially in the area of public procurement, where private and public sectors cooperated on an equal basis. The project lead was done by the academia. KNUT (Electronic Procurement of Telecommunications Services for the Swedish Public Sector) challenged the question of how to create a service of electronic procurement for both buyers and sellers. The project created a tool to carry out the whole public procurement process electronically, starting from analysing the needs of an organization, through the evaluation of tenders up to contract administration, and even further. KNUT also aimed at creating a model for analysing the needs of end-users, both in terms of telecommunications and organizational needs. If done correctly, this can empower organizations to do the public procurement themselves by using the same tools, which leads to cost reduction and better deals for both buyers and suppliers. The organisational procurement process of telecommunications services has been analysed and structured in the KNUT-project. The buying process can be broken up into ten phases, starting with the anticipation of the need to procure, over the collection of needs, market investigations, the collection of information regarding legacy to contract administration. The analysis of needs is structured with mandatory and non-mandatory requirements for all end-users and specific working situations. In the short run, KNUT can facilitate the analysis of needs and the writing of requirements specifications for the agencies as well as the compilation of tenders for the companies aiming to bid. The project helps reducing misunderstandings between buyers and suppliers through common definitions and standards. It also reduces dependencies on consultants and increases the possibilities fo

This paper explores and discusses how the use of electronic ways to purchase can change and influence the development of public procurement. Electronic public procurement makes it possible not only to increase efficiency of public procurement processes but it can also influence the broader development of both buying and selling organisations. The consequences for public procurement stakeholders as well as pros and contras of this development are investigated.

This paper examines the infusion of e-procurement applications along two dimensions of usage - intensity and organizational acceptance - and tests the relationship between use and procurement performance. Drawing upon the resource-based view of the firm, this paper tests the relationship between select organizational resources and e-procurement infusion in the context of procurement of indirect materials and services. The research model is estimated with survey data obtained on 193 organizations from the service sector. Data are analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that while organizational integration and business knowledge of IT managers are significantly related to only organizational acceptance of e-procurement, procurement process readiness and organizational slack resources are related to both the dimensions of e-procurement infusion. Our results also show that both dimensions of e-procurement infusion are positively related to procurement performance while their interaction effect on performance is negative. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

This paper examines the infusion of e-procurement applications along two dimensions of usage - intensity and organizational acceptance - and tests the relationship between use and procurement performance. Drawing upon the resource-based view of the firm, this paper tests the relationship between select organizational resources and e-procurement infusion in the context of procurement of indirect materials and services. The research model is estimated with survey data obtained on 193 organizations from the service sector. Data are analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that while organizational integration and business knowledge of IT managers are significantly related to only organizational acceptance of e-procurement, procurement process readiness and organizational slack resources are related to both the dimensions of e-procurement infusion. Our results also show that both dimensions of e-procurement infusion are positively related to procurement performance while their interaction effect on performance is negative. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

This paper examines the infusion of e-procurement applications along two dimensions of usage - intensity and organizational acceptance - and tests the relationship between use and procurement performance. Drawing upon the resource-based view of the firm, this paper tests the relationship between select organizational resources and e-procurement infusion in the context of procurement of indirect materials and services. The research model is estimated with survey data obtained on 193 organizations from the service sector. Data are analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that while organizational integration and business knowledge of IT managers are significantly related to only organizational acceptance of e-procurement, procurement process readiness and organizational slack resources are related to both the dimensions of e-procurement infusion. Our results also show that both dimensions of e-procurement infusion are positively related to procurement performance while their interaction effect on performance is negative. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

This thesis describes and analyses public procurement and its processes in general against the framework of industrial marketing and purchasing. In particular, it focuses on the public procurement of telecommunications (“telecom”) and its effects on the de-monopolization and development of the Swedish telecom market based on empirical material from three case studies, interviews and publicly available written sources. Public procurement is a significant part of any country’s economy. There is a plenitude of publicly available data due to Sweden’s and other public administrations’ transparency policies. Despite this fact, public procurement has been poorly covered in business administration literature when compared with the private sector’s purchasing and selling activities. This thesis tries to bridge the theoretical gap between knowledge of purchasing in business-to-business (“B2B”) and public procurement. Public procurement can be considered as a special type of B2B transaction and, particularly in the case of bigger procurements, of project purchasing. The important difference is that public procurement must follow specific and stricter legislation compared with the private sector’s purchasing activities. Among other things, public procurement law restricts contact between the procuring organisation and tenderers in some phases of the procurement process, allows no changes after the publishing of the Request for Proposal and opens the possibility to appeal to the court if any party considers that the procuring organisation has not acted in accordance with the public procurement rules. The telecom market has, over a period of thirty years, been transformed from a monopoly with practically no choice to a fully competitive market with several service and equipment providers as well as different pricing schemes and competing technical solutions. The development of the Swedish telecom market can be divided into four stages: Full monopoly, partial de-monopolization, fu

This work addresses how the number of suppliers employed by a manufacturer relates to its use of electronic procurement (e-procurement). Using data from the U.S. manufacturing industry, we find a surprising result that there is non-correlation between e-procurement and number of suppliers at the aggregate level. However, when we distinguish the type of goods purchased, we find that e-procurement is associated with using more suppliers for custom goods while fewer suppliers for standard goods. The finding for custom goods may sound contradictive to the prior literature proposing a "move to the middle," but is consistent with a TCE-based notion that custom goods procurement involves more asset-specific relationships than standard goods. Further, the positive association between e-procurement and number of suppliers of custom goods is negatively moderated by the degree of buyer-supplier systems integration, which is consistent with the argument that deeper integration of buyer and supplier information systems can help buyers obtain better "fit" for their customized requirements. This is an alternative to achieving better fit by employing more suppliers as proposed in the extant literature. © 2008 IEEE.

This paper examines the infusion of e-procurement applications along two dimensions of usage - intensity and organizational acceptance - and tests the relationship between use and procurement performance. Drawing upon the resource-based view of the firm, this paper tests the relationship between select organizational resources and e-procurement infusion in the context of procurement of indirect materials and services. The research model is estimated with survey data obtained on 193 organizations from the service sector. Data are analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that while organizational integration and business knowledge of IT managers are significantly related to only organizational acceptance of e-procurement, procurement process readiness and organizational slack resources are related to both the dimensions of e-procurement infusion. Our results also show that both dimensions of e-procurement infusion are positively related to procurement performance while their interaction effect on performance is negative. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

This paper examines the infusion of e-procurement applications along two dimensions of usage - intensity and organizational acceptance - and tests the relationship between use and procurement performance. Drawing upon the resource-based view of the firm, this paper tests the relationship between select organizational resources and e-procurement infusion in the context of procurement of indirect materials and services. The research model is estimated with survey data obtained on 193 organizations from the service sector. Data are analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that while organizational integration and business knowledge of IT managers are significantly related to only organizational acceptance of e-procurement, procurement process readiness and organizational slack resources are related to both the dimensions of e-procurement infusion. Our results also show that both dimensions of e-procurement infusion are positively related to procurement performance while their interaction effect on performance is negative. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

This thesis describes and analyses public procurement and its processes in general against the framework of industrial marketing and purchasing. In particular, it focuses on the public procurement of telecommunications (“telecom”) and its effects on the de-monopolization and development of the Swedish telecom market based on empirical material from three case studies, interviews and publicly available written sources. Public procurement is a significant part of any country’s economy. There is a plenitude of publicly available data due to Sweden’s and other public administrations’ transparency policies. Despite this fact, public procurement has been poorly covered in business administration literature when compared with the private sector’s purchasing and selling activities. This thesis tries to bridge the theoretical gap between knowledge of purchasing in business-to-business (“B2B”) and public procurement. Public procurement can be considered as a special type of B2B transaction and, particularly in the case of bigger procurements, of project purchasing. The important difference is that public procurement must follow specific and stricter legislation compared with the private sector’s purchasing activities. Among other things, public procurement law restricts contact between the procuring organisation and tenderers in some phases of the procurement process, allows no changes after the publishing of the Request for Proposal and opens the possibility to appeal to the court if any party considers that the procuring organisation has not acted in accordance with the public procurement rules. The telecom market has, over a period of thirty years, been transformed from a monopoly with practically no choice to a fully competitive market with several service and equipment providers as well as different pricing schemes and competing technical solutions. The development of the Swedish telecom market can be divided into four stages: Full monopoly, partial de-monopolization, fu

This paper examines the infusion of e-procurement applications along two dimensions of usage - intensity and organizational acceptance - and tests the relationship between use and procurement performance. Drawing upon the resource-based view of the firm, this paper tests the relationship between select organizational resources and e-procurement infusion in the context of procurement of indirect materials and services. The research model is estimated with survey data obtained on 193 organizations from the service sector. Data are analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that while organizational integration and business knowledge of IT managers are significantly related to only organizational acceptance of e-procurement, procurement process readiness and organizational slack resources are related to both the dimensions of e-procurement infusion. Our results also show that both dimensions of e-procurement infusion are positively related to procurement performance while their interaction effect on performance is negative. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

This work addresses how the number of suppliers employed by a manufacturer relates to its use of electronic procurement (e-procurement). Using data from the U.S. manufacturing industry, we find a surprising result that there is non-correlation between e-procurement and number of suppliers at the aggregate level. However, when we distinguish the type of goods purchased, we find that e-procurement is associated with using more suppliers for custom goods while fewer suppliers for standard goods. The finding for custom goods may sound contradictive to the prior literature proposing a "move to the middle," but is consistent with a TCE-based notion that custom goods procurement involves more asset-specific relationships than standard goods. Further, the positive association between e-procurement and number of suppliers of custom goods is negatively moderated by the degree of buyer-supplier systems integration, which is consistent with the argument that deeper integration of buyer and supplier information systems can help buyers obtain better "fit" for their customized requirements. This is an alternative to achieving better fit by employing more suppliers as proposed in the extant literature. © 2008 IEEE.

This thesis describes and analyses public procurement and its processes in general against the framework of industrial marketing and purchasing. In particular, it focuses on the public procurement of telecommunications (“telecom”) and its effects on the de-monopolization and development of the Swedish telecom market based on empirical material from three case studies, interviews and publicly available written sources. Public procurement is a significant part of any country’s economy. There is a plenitude of publicly available data due to Sweden’s and other public administrations’ transparency policies. Despite this fact, public procurement has been poorly covered in business administration literature when compared with the private sector’s purchasing and selling activities. This thesis tries to bridge the theoretical gap between knowledge of purchasing in business-to-business (“B2B”) and public procurement. Public procurement can be considered as a special type of B2B transaction and, particularly in the case of bigger procurements, of project purchasing. The important difference is that public procurement must follow specific and stricter legislation compared with the private sector’s purchasing activities. Among other things, public procurement law restricts contact between the procuring organisation and tenderers in some phases of the procurement process, allows no changes after the publishing of the Request for Proposal and opens the possibility to appeal to the court if any party considers that the procuring organisation has not acted in accordance with the public procurement rules. The telecom market has, over a period of thirty years, been transformed from a monopoly with practically no choice to a fully competitive market with several service and equipment providers as well as different pricing schemes and competing technical solutions. The development of the Swedish telecom market can be divided into four stages: Full monopoly, partial de-monopolization, fu

This thesis describes and analyses public procurement and its processes in general against the framework of industrial marketing and purchasing. In particular, it focuses on the public procurement of telecommunications (“telecom”) and its effects on the de-monopolization and development of the Swedish telecom market based on empirical material from three case studies, interviews and publicly available written sources. Public procurement is a significant part of any country’s economy. There is a plenitude of publicly available data due to Sweden’s and other public administrations’ transparency policies. Despite this fact, public procurement has been poorly covered in business administration literature when compared with the private sector’s purchasing and selling activities. This thesis tries to bridge the theoretical gap between knowledge of purchasing in business-to-business (“B2B”) and public procurement. Public procurement can be considered as a special type of B2B transaction and, particularly in the case of bigger procurements, of project purchasing. The important difference is that public procurement must follow specific and stricter legislation compared with the private sector’s purchasing activities. Among other things, public procurement law restricts contact between the procuring organisation and tenderers in some phases of the procurement process, allows no changes after the publishing of the Request for Proposal and opens the possibility to appeal to the court if any party considers that the procuring organisation has not acted in accordance with the public procurement rules. The telecom market has, over a period of thirty years, been transformed from a monopoly with practically no choice to a fully competitive market with several service and equipment providers as well as different pricing schemes and competing technical solutions. The development of the Swedish telecom market can be divided into four stages: Full monopoly, partial de-monopolization, fu

The Air Force currently funds projects chartered with studying and developing e-Procurement systems. Through review and analysis of various e-Procurement projects, factors attributing to successful implementation of e-Procurement systems will be deduced and provided as a useful guide for federal agencies initiating e-Procurement projects. By identifying critical success factors this research should: 1) improve preimplementation planning, 2) improve spend decisions, and 3) decrease implementation time by eliminating unnecessary steps. This research utilized the current literature to identify specific factors important in the e-Procurement implementation process. Once the factors were determined, a survey was developed to measure the factors in organizations with an e-Procurement system. All fifty state governments were contacted to determined if they had implemented e-Procurement systems and, if they responded affirmatively, were surveyed regarding what they have identified as the factors most instrumental in their e-Procurement implementation. The survey looked specifically at six key areas of e-Procurement implementation: 1) technology, 2) management, 3) processes, 4) suppliers, 5) budget, and 6) benefits. Each organization's tangible and intangible benefits were assessed to further substantiate the value organizations should be getting from e-Procurement., The original document contains color images.

SPR-PL-1(59)534, The purpose of this study was to assess the advantages and disadvantages of using digital signatures to assist the Arizona Department of Transportation in conducting business. The Department is evaluating the potential of performing more electronic transactions (e.g., electronic bidding, procurement, Motor Vehicle transactions, etc.). Many of the Department's candidate transactions require one or more ink signatures before they can be processed. The basic challenge is that without a means to provide verifiable and binding electronic signatures, many transactions become Internet ineligible and cannot become part of the Department's e-service portfolio. E-Government relies on secure communication between two or more trusting parties. Digital signatures may provide the missing component that would allow certain transactions to be performed electronically. A great deal of information was found addressing digital signature technology and a number of case studies were used by the researchers. In addition, the researchers conducted a review of Arizona and Federal statutes to assess the legal requirements pertaining to the veracity of digital and electronic signatures. A survey of other states' transportation departments was completed to determine what digital signature technologies are being used. 36 states responded to the survey. Most states have either implemented a form of digital signature technology or are in the process of doing so. Most have chosen to leverage the capabilities of third-party software providers and not internal development by their staff. Finally, the researchers leveraged case studies and interviews with a leading digital certificate/PKI vendor to establish a basic cost profile for developing an internal solution and leveraging a third-party solution. The three year cost of a third party solution was significantly less than building a solution internally. Based on the available sources, the researchers concluded that a well documented, third party