The Key Enablers for the Adoption of Lean Thinking by Public Purchasing Departments

The complex and multifaceted nature of public procurement to some extent negate efficiency and effectiveness in serving the public purpose. The mandate to deliver different types of services to various segments of society and the need to do more with less resources place responsibility on public purchasing departments to be innovative. Lean thinking thereby offers viable opportunities for value creation through intentional strategies, techniques and tools to enhance process, product and outcomes. However, the decision to adopt lean thinking is contingent on multiple variables. This study attempts to identify key enablers for the adoption of the lean approach in the public sector. The study relies on data garnered from various public purchasing departments in North America. Multivariate analysis of the evidence suggests strategic, management, and individual level factors are essential for the adoption of the lean approach. The onus now rests on various professionals and relevant stakeholders associated with public procurement to initiate measures that will facilitate adoption of lean thinking as a conduit to responsive management and beneficial outcomes for society

Journal of Public Procurement : Volume 11 Number 2 Summer 2011

CONTENTS Collusive Drawbacks of Sequential Auctions G. L. Albano and G. Spagnolo The Root Causes of Contract Administration Problems R. J. Sebastian and B. Davison Estimating the Final Cost of a DoD Acquisition Contract S. P. Tracy and E. D. White Lean Thinking and Its Implications for Public Procurement: Moving forward with Assessment and Implementation J. J. Schiele and C. P. McCue Do the Baby and the Bathwater Deserve the Same Fate? An Exploratory Study of Collaborative Pricing in the U.S. Department of Defense T. G. Hawkins and J. R. Cuskey274 hlm.; 23 cm

Knowledge Variables in Cross-National Social Inquiry

This article examines the impact of "don't know" responses on cross-national measures of knowledge regarding science and the environment. Specifically, we explore cross-national variance in aggregate knowledge levels and the gender gap in knowledge in each of 20 nations to determine whether response-set effects contribute to observed variance. Copyright (c) 2004 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.