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Can Lean work in public procurement, or is the field too complex and varied for a lean approach to succeed? In May 2010 the UK government announced a reform of public procurement; a key proposal was to use lean procurement to shorten timescales and reduce costs. This paper describes the Cabinet Office's work to develop a lean sourcing process and examines its practical implementation. Early implementation experience is discussed alongside lean principles and theory and we consider the effect on procurement success in the public sector environment where strategic outcomes are paramount. We also seek to identify whether there are key enablers or preconditions which must exist in order for public procurement bodies to use a lean sourcing approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to examine the factors that either foster or impede adoption of supply-chain management processes by public sector organizations, as well as to identify the potential benefits that can be achieved by local governments through the use of the supply chain framework. Case study findings suggest that in order for supply chain management innovation to occur in the public sector a number of factors must be addressed, including the willingness to invest in information technology; identifying opportunities for procurement to transition from a control to a support function; seeking to partner organizational expertise with vendor expertise; the ability to identify crucial supplies and strategic issues that add value to the organization; and to innovate incrementally. Results suggest that the adoption of a supply chain perspective can yield innovative procurement techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last several decades, lean thinking has been credited with several advancements in the practices of private sector organizations. Only recently have researchers begun to report on lean thinking as it applies to the public sector. For public procurement research, the concept remains largely unexamined. This research used the extant literature to identify preconditions that are required to successfully deploy lean thinking principles, tools, and techniques. Salient preconditions were organized into key categories. These categories provided the basis for a framework designed to assess public procurement's ability to adopt lean thinking, and aid in its implementation within this public sector environment. Questions suggested to guide future research, along with an approach intended to facilitate this work, are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this research is to use a case-based approach to develop an improved understanding of the conditions under which municipal purchasing departments can be meaningfully involved in acquisition processes for consulting services. Design/methodology/approach -- Data were collected at five Canadian municipalities and involved a detailed examination of ten cases where the supply function demonstrated meaningful involvement in the acquisition process. Findings -- Findings, along with organizational behavior literature on trust, were used to develop a conceptual model and tentative measurement scales that may be used to test the validity of the theory developed. Originality/value -- This work addresses the problem of low public sector purchasing department involvement in these important purchase decisions and some significant gaps in the public procurement literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge public procurement professionals perceive as important for performing their duties. Design/methodology/approach: Using secondary data generated from a job analysis study commissioned by the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council [UPPCC], this paper examined the knowledge sets that procurement officials recognize as necessary and sufficient for daily operations and professional development. Findings: Principal Component Analysis is used to validate the six domains of knowledge covered on the survey. This paper identifies sets of core knowledge domains that are essential for procurement administration, including sourcing, negotiation process, contract administration, supply management and strategic procurement planning. Originality/value: Furthermore, the authors incorporated anecdotal commentary information from the same survey to determine what additional professional development and continuing education opportunities procurement officials are seeking to improve performance in their current and future work roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]