Journal of Public Procurement

Liljeroos-Cork, Johanna Maria; Laitinen, Kaisu

2024 Journal of Public Procurement

doi: 10.1108/jopp-07-2023-0046

Infrastructure forms a basis for the operations and sustainability of the modern society. This paper aims to recognize value creation from the infrastructure procurement ecosystem perspective to achieve those goals. The pursuit of enhancing value creation involves an examination of infrastructure procurement challenges, boundaries as well as boundary spanners that facilitate effective knowledge transfer and interaction.Design/methodology/approachThe qualitative study is based on content analysis of 25 thematic interviews. Data was transcribed and coded via Atlas.ti software.FindingsInfrastructure procurement value creation challenges appear complex and related to boundaries that hamper collaboration, coordination and knowledge sharing. Our results show that these boundaries locate within and between different levels of procurement ecosystem. Therefore, value creation in infrastructure procurement requires boundary spanners for leveraging knowledge sharing and interaction. Artifacts, discussion, processes and brokers as identified boundary spanners are strongly nested and interrelated in the industry. Special attention should be given to supporting individuals to act as brokers, since they play the key roles in trust building, culture steering and usage of other boundary spanners.Social implicationsPromoting value creation in infrastructure procurement helps to achieve socio-economic development goals.Originality/valueThis study offers a unique perspective on value creation in the context of infrastructure by adopting an ecosystem lens and examining boundary crossing mechanisms. The results support future development of collaboration and knowledge sharing practices fostering procurement productivity.

Amoah, Christopher

2024 Journal of Public Procurement

doi: 10.1108/jopp-05-2023-0032

The South African Government announced the black economic empowerment (BEE) legislation in 2003 in the public procurement systems. The legislation was deemed a catalyst for the emancipation of the previously disadvantaged citizens due to the apartheid government policies that secluded them from economic activities. This study aims to explore the challenges of black construction professionals with the BEE as a procurement policy.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a qualitative research approach. Thirty-five black construction professionals were contacted for interviews, of which 21 responded. Due to the COVID-19 restriction, participants were interviewed using telephone interview techniques. The information received was analysed using the thematic contents analysis method.FindingsThe findings revealed the challenges confronting black construction professionals regarding the BEE policy as corrupt practices (leading to the award of contracts to unqualified people), fronting of contractors and individuals for unqualified firms, preventing the participation of experienced and foreign firms, poor policy implementation with no monitoring mechanism and loss of tender due to strict requirements.Social implicationsUrgent attention is needed to review the BEE policy implementation process by the South African government to address the challenges enumerated by the policy beneficiaries to ensure the achievement of the policy objectives.Originality/valueThis study has identified the challenges of the BEE policy; thus, the government can institute measures to address the hindrances thwarting the beneficiaries from realising the policy objectives.

Etsula, Olive

2024 Journal of Public Procurement

doi: 10.1108/jopp-08-2022-0038

This study aims to explore and present discussions regarding the interconnectedness of procurement fraud, supply chain education, professional maturity and ethics, and their relevance to adopting a transcendence concept as well as proposing research directions thereof.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a conceptual, intending to synthesize insights and propose a new conceptual framework that incorporates the transcendence framework and the process matrix. This generic framework provides a holistic view of the procurement and supply chain landscape at multiple levels – individual, team, organizational and industry.FindingsThis paper delves into the complex landscape of corruption within procurement, involving a diverse array of participants, including procurement professionals. The effectiveness of current corruption theories may be limited in this context. Despite the introduction of ethical training and anti-corruption initiatives, corruption remains widespread. The delivery of content and the design of the curriculum in supply chain education necessitate a reorientation to include not only moral education but also practical or hands-on delivery methods. In Kenya, sectors such as health and education exhibit a lack of recognition and professional maturity. When all the research constructs are examined separately, they do not provide a holistic understanding, thus underscoring the need for a comprehensive approach across the supply chain spectrum. This topic is ripe for further academic investigation with empirical evidence.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper provides key insights for researchers and practitioners in the field of procurement and supply chain education, particularly in Kenya. However, it acknowledges the lack of empirical studies and the limitations of current research, including procurement fraud, the context-specific nature of the findings and the dynamic nature of corruption and procurement practices concerning the constructs. This paper calls for further research to address these gaps, validate its propositions and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of public procurement and corruption in Kenya. It also emphasizes the need for continuous research due to the evolving nature of corruption and procurement practices.Practical implicationsThis study has practical relevance for researchers, professionals and the procurement and supply chain ecosystem. It offers insights that can inform future research, professional advocacy and policy development regarding the shape of supply chain academia in Kenya. In addition, it contributes to the advancement of procurement and supply chain professionalism in the country.Social implicationsThis study underscores the necessity for breaking the cycle of procurement fraud, enhancing procurement and supply chain education in Kenya, and fostering active engagement of professional associations in promoting maturity and specialization within the field.Originality/valueThis study holds distinctive value by uncovering previously unexplored dynamics among supply chain constructs within the context of a lower-middle-income economy, i.e. Kenya. Deconstructing and synergizing these concepts calls for a more robust theoretical and empirical comprehension of these constructs within Kenya's unique background.

Kodym, Jakub

2024 Journal of Public Procurement

doi: 10.1108/jopp-05-2024-0052

The purpose of this study is to promote value as a core concept enabling innovative and socially responsible procurement. It suggests how organisations should analyse value from their own perspective and from that of their stakeholders and users, to keep pace with the expectations of today's society.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines developments in recent legislation and case law of the EU as well as observed good practice. It builds on these bases and on economic and behavioural approaches to define value and embed it in the awarding framework of public contracts.FindingsWhile traditional “prescriptive” approaches face legality and efficiency challenges as buyers must take into account societal considerations, this change of perspective allows to pursue policies in a more transparent and defendable manner. The study proposes a simple value model as a framework for such analysis.Research limitations/implicationsThe study opens a field for further qualitative and comparative research, measuring or determining how active implementation of value approaches improve efficiency and/or lead to better fulfilment of procurement and policy objectives.Practical implicationsReasoning in terms of value can be further developed into enabling measures promoting sustainable sourcing, support of local and small businesses and bonds with communities.Social implicationsAn explicit introduction of value as a procurement enabler should help organisations to implement their sustainability policies and to better use public procurement as a strategic instrument, and even as a driver of social innovation.Originality/valueIn spite of the pressing practical challenges related to value in public procurement, literature on this topic is scarce and has mostly tackled the problematics from a purely legal or theoretical point of view. This paper tends to address it from different and more practical perspectives, such as contribution of procurement to governance; linking public procurement and public policy; meaning of innovation from transaction (market) perspective and its implications for tendering.

Klimavičiūtė, Luka; Schito, Marco; Barcevičius, Egidijus

2024 Journal of Public Procurement

doi: 10.1108/jopp-12-2023-0093

This paper aims to explore the effect of sustained high inflation on public procurement participation in the European Union, both in terms of the average number of bids submitted and in the proportion of bids by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) out of all submitted bids.Design/methodology/approachRegression modelling, using contract award notices in the Tender Electronics Daily database between 2018 and 2022, at quarterly intervals.FindingsEach inflation point increase is associated with a decline in the average number of offers received per tender by 0.43%. A more marked reduction of 8.6% in the average number of offers and a decrease in 3.4 percentage points in the SME participation rate are observed for firms operating in sectors that experienced very high levels of inflation (>20% year-on-year rate of change), compared with a situation of low inflation (0–5%).Social implicationsClaims about difficulties in delivering public contracts for the set price should be taken with a grain of salt, unless businesses operate in sectors experiencing very high inflation levels. Measures to foster competition could also reduce price pressures.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to quantitatively assess the association between high inflation and public procurement participation. Two methodological novelties are introduced: the operationalisation of sectoral-level inflation down to two-digit NACE codes, based mainly on producer prices; and a matching between two-digit NACE codes for inflation and the common procurement vocabulary codes to classify calls to bid for public contracts by economic activity.