Suomen Sotatieteellinen Seura - The Finnish Society of Military Science
Abstract
The security budgets in general have been declining and the recent era of austerity together with the Ukraine and migration crises has not yet changed this trend. Security organizations are facing situations where purchasing cooperation might be the solution for getting more performance out of decreasing budgets. In the literature review the motives and enablers for successful cooperation are reviewed, such as reduction of transaction costs and increased professionalism. The different organizational roles for cooperation are discussed following Schotanus and Telgen (2007).
Empirical data is collected from the organizations engaging in purchasing cooperation through twelve interviews from Defence Forces, Police and Frontier Guard. The main benefits were found to include shared responsibilities in purchasing process that saves individual organization resources, interoperability between organizations and cost savings. The main organizational roles that were identified: “hitchhiking”, “bus rides”, “carpooling”, “F1-team” and “political F1-team”. Cooperation opportunities need to be identified early on and for this purpose, ministry of the interior has a committee where Police and Border Guard were discussing material projects and purchasing cooperation. At the end of the article ways to enhance cooperation are suggested