This exposition summarises research published in several academic articles, in order
to meet the requirements of PhD by publication. The focus of the work is on the role
of electronic procurement in management of the purchasing function.
From the late 1990s a number of independent e-procurement mechanisms were
launched which offered potential benefits such as increased order accuracy,
transaction efficiency and greater integration between trading partners. At the outset
of this programme of research, e-procurement was therefore an emerging
phenomenon with little academic research and presented an opportunity to
investigate a largely unexplored area. Edmondson and McManus (2007) suggest that
for nascent, as opposed to mature areas of research, where few formal constructs or
measures exist, an exploratory, qualitative approach is required. This research
followed such an approach through the use of case studies, involving observation,
participation and interviews with key organisational actors. Each paper makes use of
several cases in order to compare and contrast results from different organisations
and to draw conclusions from multi-case analysis.
The published articles focus on the impact of core applications within e-procurement,
including online reverse auctions, electronic marketplaces, online catalogue sites,
and buying systems covering the ‘requisition to pay’ cycle. The findings from the
papers address a number of core themes in purchasing management. In considering
buyer-supplier relationships, it was observed that such dyads are driven by traditional
buyer negotiation factors such as segmentation, power and price and that use of eprocurement
applications tended to enforce such traditional behaviours. In relation to
the potential for integration, the study found that integration between firms was barely
affected, as the concept of integration was neither an objective nor a business case
driver for e-procurement adoption. This situation reflects the finding that procurement
managers pursue functional targets rather than supply chain-level objectives.
However, other significant effects from e-procurement adoption were noted such as
the tendency by buyers to reduce supplier numbers and a move to re-engineer the
procurement function in buying firms, through automating transactional processes.
The research finds that e-procurement does not have a deterministic impact on
purchasing management, and that it acts as an enabler to more effective
management of the function though the way its different mechanisms are deployed.
The exposition establishes that e-procurement is used in relation to supply conditions
which are characterised by both ‘markets’ and ‘hierarchies’, but that it is the predefined
purchasing strategy of the firm, rather than available technology solutions,
which determines when markets and hierarchies are used. Additionally, an original
model is introduced, focusing on developing an e-procurement policy which can
support strategic purchasing goals. This model extrapolates findings from stages in
the research, and marries together elements from various papers and frameworks
therein, to produce some guidelines for adoption of this technology