,DanaInfo=cclibweb-3.central.cranfield.ac.uk+Osoba_o

8/6/2019 ,DanaInfo=cclibweb-3.central.cranfield.ac.uk+Osoba_o

1/100

CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY

OLAOSEBIKAN OSOBA

UPTAKE OF E-PROCUREMENT


2/100

CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY

CRANFIELD SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

STRATEGIC MARKETING GROUP

MSc THESIS

Academic Year 2007/2008

O AOS A OSO A


3/100

ABSTRACT

E-procurement has constantly received attention from organisations, industries, businesses and

government agencies, largely due to the benefits elaborated by analysts and organisations post-

adoption. However, by the early 21st

century the adoption rate of e-procurement suddenly slowed

down.

This backdrop presents the context this research which aims to investigate the declining adoption rate

of e-procurement. The investigation first identified the different types of e-procurement, capturing the

flaws and advantages thereof.

To address the aim of the study, the methodology adopted was a combination of an analysis of a case

study and in-depth interviews of professional procurement managers. Both approaches resulted in the

identification of the critical success factors of e-procurement as the primary objective; and the barriers

and challenges to the adoption of an e-procurement strategy as the secondary objectives.

Evaluating the findings at the end of the research, two major issues were emphasised in both the

interviews and case study analysis.

1. Selection of the best strategy for an organisation: This is a critical success factor which hasled to the failure of several organisations and ranks highly in discouraging organisations from

d ti t A l t f f il d t t t i


4/100

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank God for his guidance and blessing in completing this thesis.

There are several people who have supported me during the dissertation and I would like to

thank each of them for their contribution.

I would also like to thank my supervisor, Ian Crawford for his support and guidance

throughout the research.

I would like to give my gratitude to my family who gave me the courage and support to

overcome a lot of challenges A big thank you to my family: my brothers, sisters, Mum andDad and to Dee. I appreciate your support and care.


5/100

Uptake of e-procurement

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 11.1 BACKGROUND OF RESEARCH .................................................................... 11.2 OVERVIEW OF E-PROCURMENT ................................................................ 5

1.2.1

Value Chains .............................................................................................. 5

1.2.2 Procurement ................................................................................................ 71.3 PROBLEM DEFINITION ............................................................................... 101.4 OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................. 111.5 PURPOSE OF STUDY .................................................................................... 121.6 REPORT STRUCTURE .................................................................................. 121.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY .................................................................................. 13

2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 142.1 DIRECT AND INDIRECT MATERIAL......................................................... 142.2 EVOLUTION OF E-PROCUREMENT .......................................................... 152.3 ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGIES ................................................................ 172.4 E-COMMERCE & PROCUREMENT ............................................................ 18


6/100


3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................ 383.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 383.2 RATIONALE OF RESEARCH ....................................................................... 383.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................................................................. 393.4 RESEARCH DESIGN ..................................................................................... 39

3.4.1 Case Research Method ............................................................................. 413.4.2

MULTIPLE HOLISTIC CASE DESIGNS .............................................. 42

3.5 CASE SELECTION ......................................................................................... 43

3.5.1 Case Selection Criteria ............................................................................. 433.6 DATA COLLECTION ..................................................................................... 45

3.6.1 Multiple Sources of Evidence................................................................... 453.6.2 Triangulation ............................................................................................ 463.6.3 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION ..................................................... 473.6.3.1 SECONDARY DATA .......................................................................... 473.6.3.2 PRIMARY DATA ................................................................................ 493.6.3.2.1 Interview Protocol ............................................................................. 523.6.3.2.2 The Critical Incidence Technique ..................................................... 52

3.7 DATA ANALYSIS .......................................................................................... 54


7/100


5.5 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS OF ADOPTING E-PROCUREMENT .... 775.6 LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................ 785.7 FURTHER RESEARCH .................................................................................. 78

REFRENCES ................................................................................................................ 79


8/100


Table of Figures

Figure 1: Division of company spending ................................................................................... 1Figure 2: Value chain ................................................................................................................. 6Figure 3: Procurement process ................................................................................................... 8Figure 4: Traditional vs. Information technology system ........................................................ 10Figure 5: Structure of research ................................................................................................. 12Figure 6: Evolution of procurement ......................................................................................... 16Figure 7: EDI on a VAN network ............................................................................................ 21

Figure 8: Difference between EDI and internet........................................................................ 22Figure 9: Road map of research ................................................................................................ 40Figure 10: Case study selection process ................................................................................... 44Figure 11: Diagram of triangulation ......................................................................................... 46Figure 12: Establishment of interview questions and themes .................................................. 49Figure 13: CRQ-TQ-IQ mode .................................................................................................. 53Figure 14: Data collection overview ........................................................................................ 53Figure 15: Road map for the analysis and triangulation ........................................................... 61Figure 16: E-procurement matrix ............................................................................................. 63List of Tables

Table 1: 2004 forecast for e-procurement transaction ................................................................ 4Table 2: Stephens Inc. industry report (1999)...................................................................... 15T bl 3 Ch t i ti f i ti 17


9/100


1 INTRODUCTION

The first section explains the background of the investigation, followed by a brief

overview of the value chain and its relationship with procurement. The next section will

define the problem of the topic, the third section outlines the objectives and purpose of

study. The fourth section describes the structure of the report. And the final section

summarizes the chapter.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF RESEARCH

The effect of procurement on the revenue or cost structure of organisations, has been

evident, as a result of the vast number of books on purchasing, supply chain

management and most importantly published articles (Kalakota and Robinson, 2001;

Chopra and Meindl, 2001; Ordanini and Rubera, 2008; Angeles and Nath, 2007).

Procurement has also been said to be one of the largest expenses of a firms cost

structure as it entails the activities of the buying and selling of goods and services


10/100


In the past, procurement was paper based. Transfer of information, such as invoices,

quotations and receipts were all done manually on paper. The way companies handle

their purchasing expenses has evolved from being traditional to more relationship

oriented, which influenced the transition from operational procurement to strategic

procurement (Segev and Gebauer, 2001). According to Segev and Gebauer (2001),

operational procurement entailed buyer to seller relationships that were basically short-

term with single objectives, whilst the strategic procurement is based on relationships

that are focused on being long-term with multiple objectives.

Press releases from professional organisations such as SAP global and Oracle on

organisations making savings from being strategic in managing their expenses made

other organisations realise that there was a high potential for significant savings with

more effective management (Bartels et al., 2007). They became aware that there were

opportunities to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, which comes from

operational effectiveness (doing what your competitors do, but better) or strategic

positioning (delivering unique value to customers by doing things differently than your

i (P t 2001) V W l (2005) l ith th t i bilit f


11/100


an organisation by continuously investing in its people, machines and technology in

order to enhance customer relationship (Van Weele, 2005).

Electronic data interchange (EDI) is a technology that was first developed in the 1970s

by the automobile/transportation industry (Sheldon, 2001). It can be said to be a

computer application that has been used by purchasers to conduct business

electronically between organisations (Giunipero and Sawchuck, 2000). This led to the

increase in the awareness of other forms of technology to aid the value and supply

chain, such as Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) which was developed as a

standard system for calculating the quantities of components, subassemblies and

material required to carry out a production programme for complex products (Baily,

2005), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), is another technological system that

provides the transactional tracking and global visibility of information from any part

of a company and its supply chain that allows intelligent decisions to be made (Chopra

and Meindl, 2001).

Th d f h i d f h l i i i i i l f b i


12/100


The promises and perceived benefits of these technologies improving the supply and

value chain process led some companies to invest in them (Attaran and Attaran, 2002).

Successful companies such as Dell made savings of $50 million within the first year of

implementation of such technologies and over 160% return on investment after a few

months of implementation. FedEx Corporation also reduced their purchasing cycle from

17-19 days to 2 days to process purchase requests after investing in similar technologies

(Attaran and Attaran, 2002; Giunipero and Sawchuck, 2000).

Forresters (2000) research predicted that electronically handled transactions also

known as e-procurement transactions, especially over the Internet would rise from a

staggering $600 billion in 2000 to over 6.8 trillion by 2004 (Translate to Success, 2005).

Table 1: 2004 forecast for e-procurement transaction

Country/Language 2002 2004 % e-commerce(2004)

United States $1,411.3 $3,189.0 47%

United Kingdom $83.2 $288.8 4.2%

A t li $36 9 $207 6 3%


13/100


The Assessment of Excellence in Procurement (AEP) also acknowledged and estimated

in 2002 that spending $1.5 billion on e-procurement would deliver savings of $19.1

billion. At that rate, A.T. Kearney estimates global 500 companies could save $330

billion annually by capturing e-procurement's full potential(Plano, 2002).

Unfortunately the expected forecast of the diffusion rate of e-procurement initiatives

and growth of e-procurement transactions has not grown as rapidly as anticipated

(Davila et al., 2003; Translate to Success, 2005; Forrester Research, 2000).

1.2 OVERVIEW OF E-PROCURMENT

In order to provide a coherent overview of e-procurement, it is first necessary to explain

the relationship between value chain and procurement and how information technology

impacts the procurement process (E-procurement).

1.2.1 Value Chains

The value chain plays a very important role in any organisation, as it is the set of

i i i h h hi h d i i d d d li d


14/100


most important supporting activities in the value chain. Organisations continually strive

to make a positive impact on the primary and supporting activities at the most minimal

cost (Van Weele, 2005). According to Lysons (2000) primary activities involve the

physical movement of raw materials and finished products, production of goods and

services, marketing sales and subsequent services to outputs of the business unit, whilst

supporting activities are the activities that support primary activities and each other. It is

based on the double effect procurement and its relationship with all the activities of the

value chain that it has been chosen as the conceptual framework for this research.


15/100


accurately, and respond more rapidly up and down the value chain (Attaran and

Attaran, 2002).

1.2.2 Procurement

Muffatto and Payaro (2004) defined procurement as the process that encompasses all

activities involved in purchasing or acquiring goods or services and the management of

the movement of purchased goods and services to the semi-finished products and

support material. These semi-products and support materials are the same as direct and

indirect materials respectively, which will be explained in detail in the following

chapter. In reference to processes of the value chain, researches have emphasised that

purchasing is one of the processes of the value chain that contributes to the goal of

reduction in cost of goods and services to the final consumer and improvement in the

value chain activities, which can be achieved by having strategic relationships between

buyers and suppliers (Chadwick and Rajagopal, 1995; Swaminathan and Tayur, 2003;

Neef, 2001).


16/100


Fi 3 P t


17/100


As there are different technologies that support the procurement process, so also are

manufacturing techniques that support the procurement process. Techniques such as just

in time (JIT) developed by the Japanese manufacturers and adopted by a large number

of organisations to eliminate waste in production and associated planning and

purchasing (Baily, 2005). Cross docking was another technique pioneered by Wal-

mart, which basically entailed the movement of goods that were not warehoused before

delivery, which implies that goods were delivered directly to the facility (Chopra and

Meindl, 2001).These techniques have evidently reduced the time consumed in tracking

physical documents, giving the purchasing managers of organisations more time to

strategise and most importantly reduced operational costs and improved management

control (Lamming and Cox, 1999; Roche, 2001). Roche (2001) also emphasised that,

for the procurement process to be fully technologically integrated, there must not be any

form of paper trail or print involved along the transaction process. The presence of

paper creates an avenue for human error, but with the help of spell checking functions

of these technologies and verification of locations by the re-confirmation of addresses

with postcodes, such errors will be avoided.


18/100


Figure 4: Traditional vs. Information technology systemSource: Yen and Ng (2002)

1.3 PROBLEM DEFINITION


19/100


Are organisations ignorant or afraid of the newly developed technologies, even

though some organisations adopt more than one type of e-procurement method

(Williams and Frolick, 2001)?

Are the characteristics of innovation applicable to e-procurement? Or have

organisations just accepted transaction costs as a permanent thorn in their

expenses and believe that money cannot be saved as long as the company wants

to continue to meet its corporate goals and objectives.

1.4 OBJECTIVES

In a bid to addressing the research question, the following objectives have been

developed, which will result in a proper understanding of why e-procurement has not

been adopted.

The objectives of the study are:

1. To identify the barriers and critical success factors to the adoption of these e-


20/100


1.5 PURPOSE OF STUDY

Organisational purchases are divided into two categories, direct and indirect material.

Direct material is referred to as products bought from suppliers that are used to

assemble or produce products sold to a companys customer. Indirect materials are

products bought, but not sold to the companys customers, such as stationeries. Based

on the nature of this research, emphasis will be placed mainly on the procurement ofindirect materials. The difference between both materials will be elaborated in the

following chapter.

The selection of the indirect material is based solely on the fact that most organisations

use their e-procurement technology for more indirect goods than direct goods and

purchase entails more strategic making decisions in order to meet the ultimate goal of

reducing the cost of procurement. The research will be solely based on organisations

that utilise some form of e-procurement.

1 6 REPORT STRUCTURE


21/100


1.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY

The first chapter has given the reader an overview of the topic, capturing the positive

and negative development of e-procurement, alongside some of their major concerns of

the initiative. This thesis will explain why organisations choose not to explore e-

procurement activities and the likely effect of these initiatives on organisations.


22/100


2. LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides an overview of the literature by understanding the different types

of e-procurement, the identified benefits of e-procurement, critical success factors and

barriers of adopting e-procurement. Before we explore the literature, value chain will be

explored and a brief overview of the difference between direct and indirect materials

will also be provided.

2.1 DIRECT AND INDIRECT MATERIAL

Procurement in the value chain basically entails the purchasing of raw materials,supplies and other consumable items as well as assets (Lysons, 2000). The

procurement function should be able to meet the material requirements related to

inbound and outbound logistics, and, often more importantly, related to operations

(Van Weele, 2005).


23/100


furniture, forms, computers, janitorial light bulbs (Neef, 2001). Both have a

direct impact on direct and indirect procurement. The major benefits of

indirect procurement can only be achieved by exercising effective strategic

sourcing. We must also note that indirect procurement can be shifted to e-

marketplaces or outsourced procurement services using e-procurement

solutions (Quesada, 2004).

Table 2 highlights the differences between direct and indirect procurement, which

further justifies the scope of the research which is specifically focused on indirect

materials.

Table 2: Stephens Inc. industry report (1999)

Differences between direct and indirect materials

Direct materials Indirect materials

Use Production Maintenance, repair, andsupport operations

Accounting treatment Cost of goods sold General andadministrative


24/100


Figure 6: Evolution of procurementSource: Segev and Gebauer (2001)


25/100


It is on this basis that researchers have integrated technology and procurement to

address these challenges at minimal cost and time (Segev and Gebauer, 2001).

2.3 ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGIES

Before we go further into procurement technologies, it would be of value to identify the

theory of adoption of innovation and how applicable it can be to the adoption of the e-

procurement, which will be explored during the research.

As stated by Everett and Shoemaker (Rogers, 1971) the adoption of an innovative idea

or initiative to be successfully adopted by social systems, is actually dependent on their

beliefs of the actual presence of certain characteristics of innovation. Though these

characteristics do not give the assurance of a successful adoption of an innovative idea,

their presence or absence will surely have an impact on the rate at which innovation is

adopted (Rogers, 1971). Table 3 gives a breakdown of these characteristics:


26/100


Based on the exploratory research of the procurement technologies, these characteristics

will be used to either critique or commend the findings of the research.

2.4 E-COMMERCE & PROCUREMENT

The implication of the adoption of EDI is not as complicated as the diffusion of EDI to

online procurement, because when EDI was introduced, it was the only technology that

could link computers for the purpose of engaging e-commerce (Williams and Frolick,

2001). Lawrence et al. (1998) defined electronic commerce as the buying and selling

of information, products and services via computer networks today and in the future,

using any one of the myriad of networks that make up the internet. However Kalakota

and Whinston (1997) stated that electronic commerce had different definitions

depending on the perspective from which it was viewed:

Table 4: Electronic commerce from four perspectives

Perspective Description


27/100


nature of the research will address the different tools or technologies of automating

business transactions between buyers and sellers.

The increase in the awareness of electronic procurement and its possible impact on the

supply and value chain; researchers have stated that it definitely will change the way

purchasing is done in the near future (Neef, 2001; Essig and Arnold, 2001). This has

definitely come to pass, for we have not only witnessed the introduction of various

technologies supporting procurement, but also witnessed some of the promised benefits

of these procurement technologies as they support the primary activities with indirect

materials on the value chain and the support of buying and selling of direct materials for

the supply chain with the presence of collaborative relationships (Eadie et al., 2007).

This is evident in the evolution of procurement in figure 6 and the decision making

section of procurement being strategic in nature, which justifies the identification and

interaction of potential and existing suppliers.

According to Quayle (2005), the development of coherent and integrated strategies can


28/100


e-procurement tools and how they have influenced the development and improvement

of the procurement process. The technologies to be discussed are those that solely

support the sending and receiving of information and documents electronically.

Researchers have stated that electronic procurement has progressed through a number of

phases, but identified two major types of electronic procurement that support the

electronic transfer of information and documents, which could be done through the

electronic data interchange (EDI) technology and internet (Online procurement) (Davila

et al., 2003; Neef, 2001; Croom, 2000).

2.4.1 E-Procurement

Electronic data interchange (EDI) was established in the 1970s, but did not become

very popular until the early 1980s as shown in figure 6 alongside the implementation of

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Material Resource Planning (MRP) (Puschmann

and Alt, 2005; Hsieh and Lin, 2004). EDI is the technique based on agreed standards,

which enabled computers in different organisations to successfully send business or

information transactions from one to the other (Lysons, 2000). Lawrence et al. also


29/100


Standards

The transmission of commercial messages between organisations, where both sender

and receiver must have a perfect understanding of what they are sending or receiving

(Lysons, 2000). The successful utilisation of EDI can only be possible by the use of

traditional client server technology, both buyer and seller having dedicated servers

solely for sending and receiving business documents in a standardized electronic format

as shown in figure 7 (Attaran and Attaran, 2002; Kalakota and Whinston, 1997; Hsieh

et al., 2002). The commonly used languages for data transmission via EDI are ANSI

X12, EANCOM or EDIFACT (Neef, 2001; Nurmilaakso, 2008). See figure 7.


30/100


for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction between

individuals and their computers without regard for geographic location(Leiner et al.,

1997).

As the internet evolved as an e-procurement gateway tool, it is quite similar to the

electronic data interchange (EDI) (Humphreys et al., 2006), but Lyson (2000) argued

that there was much more to it by defining the function of both EDI and the internet.

The internet (online procurement) addresses the business transaction function with the

aid of an internet browser to view online catalogues and place orders via email, whilst

the EDI initiative requires a dedicated client/server to communicate with its suppliers to

place orders (Lin and Hsieh, 2000; Attaran, 2001). With the internet a customer can

have access to suppliers with one connection; unlike EDI the customer needs a new

connection for every supplier. Figure 8 illustrates the differences between EDI and the

Internet when transferring information and documents between buyers/customer and

sellers/suppliers.


31/100


Online procurement software: This enables buyers to purchase goods from

approved electronic catalogues in accordance to buying rules, while capturing

necessary purchasing data in the process. Dell and HP are examples of

organisations that use the internet for their procurement processes.

Internet auctions: These are events in which multiple buyers place bids to

acquire goods or services at an internet site. E-bay is an organisation that has

adopted internet auction as their business process. According to Kumar (2001),

there are two types of internet-auction:

Forward: Sellers post on the internet the goods they want to sell, after

which the buyers will bid for the service and goods.

Reverse: This is different from the forward auction; buyers post a

request for quotes and items they want to buy. Its function is to use

the low cost and ubiquity of the internet to create competitive

environments for online negotiations between buyers and multiple


32/100


2.5 BENEFITS OF E-PROCUREMENT- EDI VS. INTERNET

The perceived benefits of e-procurement motivate the adoption rate of any e-

procurement tool, especially if they positively possess the characteristics of innovation

(Rogers, 1971). The goal of procurement is to ensure an uninterrupted flow of raw

materials and information at the most minimal cost, retaining or improving the same

quality of the final product and to have a quick response to changes in the market(Skjott-Larsen et al., 2003; Lambert et al., 1998a). The competency of people assigned

to dealing with the flow of such documents and the techniques employed to transmit

those documents can significantly affect the efficiency of the procurement system

(Hsieh et al., 2002). This makes e-procurement the gateway for meeting goals of

efficiency, effectiveness and increased control over the supply chain (Attaran andAttaran, 2002).

According to Parida et al. (2005) efficiency in e- procurement entails lower

procurement costs, faster cycle times, reduce maverick spending or unauthorised


33/100


Relative advantage of cost

This being the characteristic that entails how better the technology is compared to theinitial initiative which was purely paper based in nature. Rather than incurring cost on

data entry, sending catalogues, invoices and quotations through post or mail, EDI

technology will send such documents or information over the value area network

(VAN) at little or no cost (Lamming and Cox, 1999; Hsieh and Lin, 2004). The Value

area network of EDI also reduces the cost of using the traditional paper means byelectronically transmitting transactions such as cash on delivery (COD), purchase order

draft, procurement cards and telephone ordering systems (Giunipero and Sawchuck,

2000; Williams and Frolick, 2001). The electronic transfer of such documents will also

result in a higher quality of information sent and received, for there will not be any form

of handwriting errors since there is little or no paper involved as earlier stated.

Relative advantage of time

The transfer of documents through EDI over the value added network takes just a few

seconds to transfer documents and shorter period of time to complete a standard

procurement process. Dell is an example of an organisation that reduced its average


34/100


2.5.2 Internet-Online Procurement

Though the internet is an evolution of EDI, the benefits of procurement over the

internet are not only more robust compared to the benefits of EDI, but possess all the

critical characteristics of the adoption theory of innovation as stated in table 3,

compared to EDI that possesses only a few (Rogers, 1971).

The improvement of all EDI benefits and other benefits such as the ability to have

multiple buyers and sellers take part in a single transaction or transfer of information or

documents as earlier stated (marketplaces and reverse auctions) is the major difference

between both technologies. These benefits can be broken into three different categories

as shown in table 5 (Attaran 2002 and Yen 2002).

Table 5: Benefits of the internet

Strategic Opportunity Operational

Consolidation ofpurchases

Enhancement ofbrand image

Matching and trackingof orders


35/100


leads to the supplier giving better discounts, service and bargaining power to the buyer

(Attaran, 2001; Hallisey, 1999), The size and easy access to the internet (Humphreys et

al., 2006), does not only accelerate the flow of information between buyers and sellers,

but gives users (buyers and sellers) a high probability of winning new businesses

(Attaran, 2001).

Opportunity benefitThis refers to more of the intangibles of the organisation. The size, accessibility and

ability to purchase from static and dynamic catalogues, gives users/organisations the

opportunity to enhance their brand image and corporate status. This is done by either

advertising or disseminating of information on their website or portal. The visibility of

both buyers and suppliers on the internet will result in them having the opportunity tounderstand each others products and businesses process, which can be used as a guide to

enhance and improve their seller/buyer relationship (Attaran, 2001). The internet not

owned by any particular organisation or person, gives small organisations the

opportunity to grow and transact business with large organisations at a minimal cost.


36/100


According to Porters findings, he stated the following as advantages mainly to the

buyer:

o Suppliers now have a channel to reach the end users rather than relying on

a middleman

o Equal access to all suppliers

o Barriers to entry have been reduced; raising the bargaining power of

buyers over the suppliers (Porter, 2001).

It is based on such benefits that organisations such as Cisco have successfully adopted

online procurement, which is segmented into 3 different categories:

The online services that addresses customers issues

Manufacturing, supply and logistics functions among global network

partners

Employee connectivity from all over the world to service employees and

empower the most productive and committed workers (Hartman et al. 2000).


37/100


2.6.1 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)When new technologies are invented, the old ones are either discarded based on the its

perceived characteristics of innovation (Rogers, 1971).This is not the case with EDI and

the Internet, though the internet had more benefits compared to EDI as stated in the

previous section, EDI had an advantage when it was invented, for it was the only

technology available to transfer documents and information electronically when it was

established. The high set-up cost of the technology attracted only the blue chip

organisations that could afford the technology, whilst the small organisations could not

afford it (Williams and Frolick, 2001; Attaran, 2001). This further resulted in the

increase in the price of products and discouragement for new entrants (Kalakota and

Whinston, 1997). Mercedez Benz, Dell are example of organisations that explored EDI

technology. Based on the fact that only large organisations could afford it, there are just

over 300,000 organisations with the EDI technology (Neef, 2001). Found below are

some of the major flaws of adopting EDI.

Integration period


38/100


Standardisation of EDI versions

The continuous upgrade of EDI has discouraged organisations from upgrading, based

on the tedious time and labour involved in training and limitations on their information

systems. This is a major flaw for, there are many versions of EDI and not all of them

are compatible. (Williams and Frolick, 2001; Kufahl, 2001)

2.6.2 Online Procurement

Advantages such as accessibility, low cost and others make the internet a unique means

of transferring information and data. The internet is a large network that makes itself

vulnerable to various disadvantages and possible mishaps of maintaining or running a

large network. Especially based on the fact that it is nobodys sole responsibility tomaintain the network as done with EDI, where the network is maintained by the owners

of value added network. This vulnerability results in the following:

Not as reliable as EDI: Based on the size and the different programmes

running simultaneously on the internet, information being sent sometimes


39/100


2.7 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR E-PROCUREMENT

IMPLEMENTATION

A recent study by (Angeles and Nath, 2007) identified the critical success factors for the

implementation of e-procurement. The quality of the empirical study makes the

identified success factors a potential guide for e-procurement implementation. These

success factors were identified and extracted from different researchers:

For better understanding and clarity, the critical success factors of e-procurement can be

broken into three different categories (Angeles and Nath, 2007).

Category 1 - Supplier and contract management: This basically has to do with how the

sellers are handled or being treated.

Category 2 - End user behaviour and e-procurement businesses processes: This has todo with the buyers processes, equipments, and internal staff

Category 3 - Information and e-procurement infrastructure: Has to do with the

alignment of e-procurement solution with business needs and catalogue


40/100


2.8 BARRIERS TO THE ADOPTION OF E-PROCUREMENT

This is applicable for the adoption of both types of e-procurement, since both execute

the standard procurement processes, although EDI is not as seamless as the Internet in

the handling of the procurement process. Both still share similar barriers to their

adoption.

Security and confidentiality of data that needs to be exchanged

electronically, based on the fact that it will be transmitted via a VAN or the

Internet that can be accessed by application hackers (Angeles and Nath,

2007; Yen and Ng, 2002; Saeed and Leitch, 2003; Saeed and Leitch, 2003).

Standardisation: This is a major barrier that companies, based on the fact that

there are so many incompatible models, organisations end up deliberating

and contemplating on what technology to adopt (Angeles and Nath, 2007). It

is akin to a buyer being in a dilemma to decide which technology to adopt


41/100


Time and effort required to adopt an e-procurement discourages theconsideration of the integration process (Lamming and Cox, 1999).

2.9 CHALLENGES TO IMPLEMENTATION OF E-PROCUREMENT

Immaturity if suppliers

This is when suppliers are not ready for change when purchasers either adopt or upgrade

e-procurement (Hannon, 2001; Kyte and Miklovic, 2001). This is a challenge that is

always an issue for suppliers. It is based on improved services or obsolete technology,

but mainly based on competition. In order to gain this competitive advantage new

technologies are adopted, without giving the seller anytime to either purchase or

upgrade to the present technology to fit the buyers technology (Angeles and Nath,

2007).According to (Min and Galle, 2003), the small firms suffer the most when such

mishaps happen, for they mostly do not have a funds and technological personnel unit/

expertise to respond to the quick change of the buyers technology.


42/100


Unplanned project cost during and after implementation

This is a very common challenge, for several expenses emerge during the installation

that was not planned or budgeted for (Rajkumar, 2001). Costs like maintenance cost can

run in to high figures, for they can easily be over looked, when the budget for the

project is been planned (Angeles and Nath, 2007). Administration cost, equipment

assets management and so much more that may not emerge until after the

commissioning of the implementation. Foreseeing all this expenses is areal challenge

and bother, as they can take various forms.

Difficulty of eliminating maverick spending

Van Welle (2005) claims that maverick spending, is a phenomenon which can be

observed in many large organisations where centrally negotiated contracts are only

used by the operating units to a small extent. This is not the case for it can be

experienced in any organisation as it involves the purchase of goods and services

without using a firms standard purchasing procedure and authorised vendors. It is a

challenge that has a direct impact not only on expenditure, but on data gathering of


43/100


44/100


Researchers have emphasised that the presence of application service providers was

mainly beneficial for small and midsize organisations (Roche, 2001), while Van Weele

(2005) believes that the initiative is beneficial across board.

2.11 IMPLICATIONS OF WRONG INVESTMENT

This is any organisations worst nightmare as some organisations never recover from

making wrong investment. Investment in e-procurement technologies are expected to

offer the greatest long-run benefit to organisations through their application to the

supply chain (Davila et al., 2003)

This means that any adopted procurement technologies should have the ability to be

integrated with production related systems in the supply chain such as Materials

Requirement Systems (MRP) and bills of materials (Davila et al., 2003).

Such investments are not only quite costly in terms of value for money, but costly in the

following areas:


45/100


46/100


3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents a detailed overview of the rationale of the research and the

research design. It will capture the selection of the research design, the categories ofresearch design, case selection and the interviewee selection process. The presentation

of a data collection plan used to gather evidence and the analysis plan is also presented.

3.2 RATIONALE OF RESEARCH

The reduction of cost is of high importance in any organisations scheme of operations,

especially based on the fact that it has a direct effect on the revenue of the organisation.

It prompts organisations to continuously review the business processes and cost

incurred by cost centre in the organisation such as human resources, infrastructural


47/100


technology play a vital role in the value chain concept as shown figure 2, which acts as

the supporting tool of an organisation.

3.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Obtaining insight on the critical success factors of e-procurement in an organisation is

the primary aim of this research, but the research will also try to highlight the answers

to the following:

Identification of challenges faced by procurement mangers when adopting or re-

engineering an e-procurement tool and how these challenges can be addresses?

How can the full potential of e-procurement be best communicated to those

within an organisation and/or other parties within the value chain; IT managers,

human resources managers, and infrastructural managers?

Will there be a further decrease in the adoption of e-procurement? And why?


48/100


research strategies with identified questions as shown in table 7. The different designs

are basically the different ways of collecting and analysing empirical evidence.

Table 7: Relevant situations for different research strategies

Strategy Form of research

question

Requires control

over behavioural

events

Focuses on

contemporary

eventsExperiment How, why Yes Yes

Survey Who, what, where,how many, howmuch

No Yes

Archival analysis Who, what, where,how many, how

much

No Yes/no

History How, why No No

Case study How, why No Yes

Cited from Yin (2003)Source: Cosmos Corporation

According to Yin (2003), a case study approach is most applicable when the research is


49/100


As shown in figure 9, there are two types of analysis in this research, which will be the

analysis of the case study and interviews. But based on the nature of the research been

contemporary, the result of the case study analysis will be dependent on the literature

review, whilst the result of the interview analysis will be dependent on the case study

analysis. A conceptual framework will be created from the literature review that will be

used to extract the findings from the case study and interviews. This will be explained

further in the data analysis section.

3.4.1 Case Research Method

A case study is an empirical inquiry that:

Investigates a contemporary phenomenon with its real life context, especiallywhen

The boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident. (Yin,2003)

This type of analysis will emphasize the different sources and perceptions for us to have

a clearer picture and understanding of the role of e-procurement in organisations


50/100


The selection of the best design for a research is very important, because it is based on

this selection that the data collection is addressed. Yin (2003) identified the single case

study (embedded or holistic) as an acceptable research approach to critically test an

existing theory, with a clear set of propositions and circumstances within which the

propositions are believed to be true and unique (Rowley, 2002; Yin, 2003). A single

case study can also be used to confirm, challenge or extend a given theory as related to a

clear set of propositions, which means it can actually be used to build theory. It can also

be the study of a typical case in the midst of various cases, which will enable the

researcher to capture all the circumstances, scenarios and conditions within the common

place of the case study.

3.4.2 Multiple Holistic Case Designs

This is usually a stronger approach than the single case approach, because it involves

the study of multiple cases, unlike the single case study approach that involves the

analysis of a single case. Though a single case study would suffice to describe the


51/100


investigating different units of analysis, but quantitative in nature. It has a major

disadvantage of easily loosing focus of the main issue, based on its flexibility feature of

being able to simultaneously explore other units of analysis (Yin, 2003). It is on this

basis that the multiple holistic design has been selected so the researcher can restrict the

case selection strategy to a single unit of analysis.

3.5 CASE SELECTION

Based on Yins (2003) recommendation of having a modest number of cases, a table

was created to display the data from the individual cases. After which the analysis of the

table was used to draw cross-case conclusions, but in the event there was a large number

of cases, the crosscase analysis technique could integrate quantitative techniques

similar to other research synthesis or meta analyses (Yin 2003). Although this is not the

case in this research, for the number of cases to be selected for this research will be

three in number, which will be cross analysed with a tabulated framework as shown in

table 12. This framework will also be used to analyse primary data for this research.


52/100


Figure 10: Case study selection process

Step one: Key words selection for database:


53/100


In order to increase the validity and reliability of the selected cases, the

researcher ensured that all the selected cases were written between 2001 and

2006, for it was within this period that the awareness and evolution of e-

procurement was at its highest (Segev and Gebauer, 2001; Davila et al., 2003).

Cases later than 1999 would be biased towards the initial e-procurement

technology, which was the electronic data interchange (EDI), for then it was the

only technology used to transfer information and business documents.

This resulted in the selection of the three cases that were used for the case study

approach.

3.6 DATA COLLECTION

When the multi source evidence is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is the

validity and reliability of the evidence, for if either of these goals are met, the case study

research will not be relevant or considered as a good research of study. There are six

commonly used sources of evidence for conducting a case study research, which are


54/100


55/100


same result, which is justified by the fact that the same framework is used for the

analysis of both case studies and interviews.

3.6.3 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

In view of the qualitative and exploratory nature of the research, this section explains

how the different sources of evidence are collected. It will be based mainly on the

primary data validating the secondary sources of information. But we must note as

earlier stated, that the primary data could not be established without the secondary

sources of evidence, which will be explained in more detail below.

3.6.3.1 Secondary Data

This can be said to be data that already exists and was originally collected for another

purpose and not the purpose of a new research (McGivern, 2006). Also known as desk

research, as it can also be done from a desk. According to McGivern (2006) secondary


56/100


Table 9: Different secondary data collection method

Sources of

evidence

Strengths Weaknesses Match research

Documentation Stable-can bereviewed repeatedly

Unobtrusive-notcreated as a result ofthe case study

Exact-contains exactnames, references, anddetails of an event

Broad coverage-longspan of time, manyevents, and manysettings

Retrievability-canbe low

Biased selectivity,if collection isincomplete

Reporting bias-reflects (unknown)bias of author

Access-may bedeliberatelyblocked

Archival

records

Same as above for

documentation Precise and

quantitative

Same as above for

documentation Accessibility due

to privacy reasons Adapted from Yin (2003): Six sources of Evidence: Strength and Weaknesses

We have established that apart from our literature review, our secondary data will be


57/100


data was also used during the data analysis and other parts of the research when the

need arose.

Secondary sources of data

Figure 12: Establishment of interview questions and themesSource: Author

Figure 12 illustrates how the research questions and themes for the framework were

established from the two categories of secondary data. The overlap is the point where

both categories have similar themes and research variables. See Appendix 4 for the


58/100


59/100


They are also in a good position to add value to the research by helping the researcher

gain access to other subjects who might otherwise be unavailable, which could be

informed through academic material or contacts for further enquiries (Gorman &

Clayton, 1997). An example was a document capturing a very interesting framework

that could not be found online or any library, but was available only in the book shop of

a key informant. The key informants are:

Table 11: Selected key informants

Key informants Category Organisation

Industry experts

(professionals)

A Procurement consultant (member of CIPS)

Industry experts

(professionals)

A Chartered Institute of purchasing and supply

(CIPS)Application service

providers

B Oracle

Academic C Cranfield University

Though semi-structured interview has its disadvantages of loss of standardisation,

comparability of respondents and probability of the interviewer being biased, its


60/100


61/100


62/100


63/100


Table 12: Summary of literature review findings

Critical Success factors Data Analysis and frequency of Case Study

Selected case

1

Selected case

2

Selected case

3

Selection of strategy thatbest fits your organisation

and its processes

Selection and reduction ofsuppliers

Barriers of Adoption

Change management

Encourage users

Communicationof benefits

Finding suppliers ready touse technology

Security of transactions


64/100


3.7.3 Research Methodology Evaluation

The research has suggested and used several types and techniques of research in an

event to achieve a quality piece of work.

In order to test the quality of the research, Yin (Yin, 2003) advised that four tests be

done on the quality of any empirical research, which are:

1. Construct validity

2. Internal validity

3. External validity

4. Reliability

Construct validity

The researcher has ensured that there were multiple sources of evidence to conduct the

research and the presence of key informants to validate the secondary data as the

primary source of evidence in the research (Yin). The chain of evidence was also


65/100


66/100


67/100


68/100


Table 14: Literature and case study findings (Framework used to analyse

interviews)

Themes Secondary findings (similar) Case study findings

Critical Success

factors

Selection of e-procurementstrategy that best fits theorganisation and its processes

Beneficiaries

Involvement of Software provider& Process developer

Reduction of Maverick spending

Appointment of champion Any initial e-procurement systemDedicated project Team Duration of integration and

change of technology

Evidence of improvement Any initial failures ofimplementation and softwareprovider

Measurable targets Any change in the organisationsprocess

Reduction of suppliers andstrategic selection of suppliers

Effect in Staff (Internal users)

Allocated sufficient resources andtraining

Garnering executive sport


69/100


4.3 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

The analysis and discussion of the findings from all sources of evidence was

simultaneously discussed because of the nature of the research design as shown in

figure 15, which shows the analysis and triangulation of all the sources of evidence.


70/100


4.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

4.4.1 OBJECTIVE 1

Identify the barriers and critical success factors to the adoption e-procurement

Found below are the critical success factors

Selection of an e-procurement tool

All sources of evidence collated, state that the selection of the most adequate e-

procurement tool is based on the organisations business processes and strategy. This

implies that before an organisation decides to adopt an e-procurement initiative, a

review of the companys goals, purchasing strategy and processes is required. Not all

organisations have the expertise to actually conduct an honest and full evaluation of its

strategy and processes, so application service providers such as Oracle, SAP and other

professional can be invited to conduct these full evaluations of an organisation, thereby

identifying the organisations core competences and making recommendations or

moulding the best fit e-procurement technology for the organisation. This is a key


71/100


Figure 16:E-procurement matrixAdapted from the Chartered Institute of Purchase and Supply (CIPS 2000)


72/100


73/100


5. Ensure that the initiative is used and measurable targets are met.

Involvement of Internal and external users

The people who play various roles within the system other than purchasing are referred

to as the stakeholders. These users could be customers, buyers and suppliers inside the

organisation. The fact that these users (i.e., staff members making online purchases)

can make or break the e-procurement process by creating a high back log of work as aresult of sticking to the status quo (Saryeddine, 2004), makes the building of the e-

procurement tool their responsibility by suggesting the user requirement and using the

procurement tool themselves. The early involvement of the stakeholders in the

implementation process with the application service providers will make them more

comfortable with the tool and ensure that their needs are addressed accordingly(Rajkumar, 2001). Interviewees expressed the views by stating that organisations should

not hesitate to spend a lot of money on initiatives such as road shows and incentives for

being part of implementation exercises of online interactive training sessions and 24

hour call centres as an awareness and encouragement to use the system. This basically


74/100


75/100

U k f


76/100


where they are based

changing their job functions

The proper execution of change management could solve maverick spending to a large

extent. An interviewee stated that some organisations enforced compliance by putting a

policy in place that if any item be purchased outside the portal, the staff would be

liable to pay for the item. Though the reality of adopting an e-procurement tool is to

ease processes and save cost, the retrenchment of staff or the redeployment of staff to

other units of the organisation will be inevitable.

o Getting suppliers/sellers to use the tool: this would be a reverse if the

buyer could understand what would be bad for the seller, then both

parties could work happily together, by understanding the following:

How will it affect the suppliers business/process

Would it make their process simpler or more complex

Would it have an effect on cost by the purchasing of new

computers or software?

U t k f t


77/100


Kheng and Al-hawamdeh (2002) showing that 60% of the respondents were of the

impression that there were better technologies than e-procurement, which was their

basis for not adopting the initiative. This issue puts senior management to drive the

initiative to the fullest once they have the necessary support. If an organisation intends

to successfully change the mindset or cultural indifference of any staff before the

implementation of e-procurement, the senior management mostly plays a major role in

driving the initiative.

Finding and cajoling suppliers to change their technology

This is an aspect that organisations sometimes find very difficult, especially when the

organisation is a small medium sized company, with not many transactions and little or

no buyer power over the supplier. But if the company is a blue chip company that deals

with high valued transactions and many competitive suppliers, it would be much easier.

Once the seller agrees to change technology, certain implications will surely follow,

which again is dependent on the organisations business case of the technology. A

respondent stated that it mostly has a negative effect on the supplier having to purchase

another technology to continue business with the purchaser. The supplier will definitely

U t k f t


78/100


Technological infrastructure and systems

This is a barrier that encompasses three barriers of technology. The first barrier, isbasically directed at organisations that do not have the technology to execute or carry

out e-procurement (Wong, C. and Sloan, B., 2004) , which would have been as a result

of the purchasing power of the buyer to change technology without prompting the

seller. The second has to do with affordability of the technology (Hawking et al., 2004).

An organisation not been able to afford the infrastructure and software. Thirdly, anorganisation may not have trained personnel to operate the e-procurement tool. (Davila

et al., 2003; Hawking et al., 2004). Interviewees expressed that all these factors should

be considered before the implementation of the e-procurement or else the proposed

benefits and investment will be a waste of time and money.

4.4.2 OBJECTIVE 2

Identify the challenges to the implementation of e-procurement.


79/100

Uptake of e procurement


80/100


learn the basics of new systems. The unwillingness to use the procurement system then

results in the usage of easier and continuous utilisation of obsolete technologies(Angeles and Nath, 2007), which will defeat the whole essence and value of the new

initiative. Organisations have started to combat this unwillingness attitude by involving

the potential users from the very beginning of the implementation stage, so they can get

comfortable with it before it actually goes online to handle real time transactions and

coming up with initiatives that will encourage the utilisation of the systems. Such asdesktop interactive training programs, which when completed, staff can get prices as a

motivation for others to use the systems.

Unplanned project cost during and after implementation

According to an interviewee It is an on going challenge that involves the emergenceof adhoc expenses during and after the implementation of the e-procurement strategy.

These hidden costs could exceed licensing costs by five or ten times (Angeles and

Nath, 2007). Other organisations state that it is an opportunity to exploit, because such

expenses never occur until the commencement of the implementation process. Though



81/100


Reduction in transactional cost of the procurement process

Reduction in maverick spending

Reduction in administrative cost

Improvement in client/supplier satisfaction

Improved transparency and accountability in the procurement process

Reduction in advertising cost

Improved contract compliance

Improved responsiveness to changes in customer demand

Enhanced market data

Increased accuracy of production capacity

Gaining competitive advantage

4.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY

The chapter has succeeded in not only analysing secondary source of data, but


82/100



83/100


Garnering executive support

5.2 BARRIERS TO THE ADOPTION

The identified barriers are all valid in recent times, but the most important barrier that

was emphasised by the interviewees was the dealing with change management. This

was the most important because it encompasses a number of variables. If this barrier

alone can be addressed by a substantial degree, the other barriers can easily be

addressed. .

Finding suppliers ready to use technology and cajoling large suppliers to change

the technology

Company culture and support of senior management

Security of transactions

Technological infrastructure and systems

5 3 CHALLENGES TO IMPLEMENTATION


84/100



85/100


5.5 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS OF ADOPTING E-PROCUREMENT

Findings of the research should give new ideas and value of e-procurement. The full

adoption of an organisations e-procurement strategy by its stakeholders is the actual

determinant of the success of the implementation strategy. For it is only when the

system is used will that the full benefits be achieved.

Before recommending actions to take in order to encourage the full usage of a

technology, it is important that the following be ensured; 1) an evaluation of the

organisations procurement process and technological systems, 2) Consideration of the

characteristics of innovation, 3) Communication of innovation.

Evaluation of process by consultants

This should be done before the implementation of the initiative, for it is based on this

evaluation which should be done by professionals and not in house staff, that the

required or recommended e-procurement tool can be chosen. The evaluations by

professionals like Oracle or Ariba have a positive effect for they are capable of building



86/100


Communication of innovation

How the users perceive the technology is also an important task, though managementare the major drivers of such initiatives, the strategy the switching over from the old to

the new technology is vital. The best way to avoiding this issue is by continuously

communicating the benefits and involving all users from the beginning of the process,

so they are involved from the beginning of the process to the actual implementation.

This can be done in creative ways, both within and outside the boundaries of theorganisation. That way they will not encounter or notice the drastic change that could

discourage the usage of the e-procurement tool.

5.6 LIMITATIONS

Diversity of cases

The selected cases were mostly in the services industry. Analysing cases from different

industries would have given a wider relevance. This would have resulted in comparing

and contrasting processes and strategies form different industries, which would have



87/100


REFERENCES

Aberdeen Group Inc. (2001), Procurement Service Providers: Full -Service

Procurement for Competitive Advantage (unpublished White Paper), Boston

Massachusetts.

Alaniz, S., Roberts, R., McCarver, B., Parks, N., Evans, K. and Eichler, B. (1999),E-

PROCUREMENT: A Guide To Buy-Side Applications, Stephens Inc., USA.

Angeles, R. and Nath, R. (2007), "Business-to-business e-procurement: success factors

and challenges to implementation", Supply Chain Management, vol. 12, no. 2, pp.

104.

Attaran, M. (2001), "The coming of age of online procurement",Industrial

Management + Data Systems, vol. 101, no. 3/4, pp. 177.

Attaran, M. and Attaran, S. (2002), "Catch the wave of e-procurement",Industrial

Management, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 16.

Baily, P. (2005), Purchasing principles and management, 9th ed, Financial Times

Prentice Hall, Harlow.



88/100

p p

Croom, S. R. (2000), "The impact of Web-based procurement on the management of

operating resources supply",Journal of Supply Chain Management, vol. 36, no. 1,

pp. 4.

Croom, S. and Brandon-Jones, A. (2007), "Impact of e-procurement: Experiences from

implementation in the UK public sector",Journal of Purchasing and Supply

Management, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 294-303.

Dai, Q. and Kauffman, R. J. (2002), "B2B E-Commerce Revisited: LeadingPerspectives on the Key Issues and Research Directions",Electronic Markets, vol.

12, no. 2, pp. 67-83.

Davila, A., Gupta, M. and Palmer, R. (2003), "Moving procurement systems to the

internet: The adoption and use of e-procurement technology models",European

Management Journal, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 11.

Day, G. S., Fein, A. J. and Ruppersberger, G. (2003), "Shakeouts in digital markets:

Lessons from B2B exchanges", California management review, vol. 45, no. 2, pp.

131.

Eadie, R., Perera, S., Heaney, G. and Carlisle, J. (2007), "Drivers and barriers to public



89/100

p p

Hallisey, J. (1999), "Online procurement replaces campus computer resale", T H E

Journal, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 68.

Hannon, D. (2001), "'Unready' suppliers slow move to e-procurement", Purchasing, vol.

130, no. 23, pp. S10.

Hartman, A., Sifonis, J.G., Kador, J. and NetLibrary, I., (2000),Net ready, McGraw-

Hill, New York, N.Y.

Hawking, P., Stein, A., Wyld, D. C. and Foster, S. (2004), "E-Procurement: Is the Ugly

Duckling Actually a Swan Down Under?Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and

Logistics, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 3.

Hsieh, C. and Lin, B. (2004), "Impact of standardization on EDI in B2B development",

Industrial Management + Data Systems, vol. 104, no. 1/2, pp. 68.

Hsieh, C., Yang, H. and Lin, B. (2002), "Roles of knowledge management in online

procurement systems",Industrial Management + Data Systems, vol. 102, no. 7, pp.

365.

Huber, B., Sweeney, E. and Smyth, A. (2004), "Purchasing Consortia and Electronic



90/100

p p

Kraljic, P. (1983), "Purchasing Must Become Supply Management",Harvard business

review, vol. 61, no. 5, pp. 109.

Krippendorff, K. (2004), Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology, 2nd ed,

Sage, Thousand Oaks.

Kufahl, P. (2001), "Get online, not in line", Utility Business, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 36.

Kyte, A. and Miklovic, D. (2001),ESCM Q&A archive, Gartner Group, Lowell, MA.

Lambert, D. M., Cooper, M. C. and Pagh, J. D. (1998a), "Supply chain management:

Implementation issues and research opportunities",International Journal of

Logistics Management, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 1.

Lambert, D. M., Stock, J. R. and Ellram, L. M. (1998b), Fundamentals of logistics

management, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA.

Lamming, R. and Cox, A. (1999), Strategic procurement management: concepts and

cases, Earlsgate Press, S.i.

Lawrence, E., Corbitt, B., Tidwell, A., Fisher, J. and Lawrence, J. R. (1998),Internet

commerce: digital models for business John Wiley Brisbane


91/100



92/100

Rajkumar, T. M. (2001), "E-procurement: Business and technical issues",Information

Systems Management, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 52.

Rankin, J. and Chen, Y. and Chritian, A. (2006), "E-procurement in the Atlantic

Canadian AEC", Special Issue e-commerce in construction, [Online], vol. 11,

August 16-75-87 available at:http://www.itcon.org/2006/6.

Roche, J. (2001), "ARE YOU READY FOR e-Procurement?Strategic Finance, vol.

83, no. 1, pp. 56-60.

Rogers, E. M. (1971), [Diffusion of innovations.] Communication of innovations: a

cross-cultural approach. 2nd ed.; [by] Everett M. Rogers with F. Floyd Shoemaker,

Free Press; Collier-Macmillan, New York; London.

Rovenpor, J. (2003), "Explaining the E-Commerce Shakeout: Why Did So Many

Internet-Based Businesses Fail?E - Service Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 53.

Rowley, J. (2002), "Using case studies in research",Management Research News, vol.

25, no. 1, pp. 16.

Saeed, K. A. and Leitch, R. A. (2003), "Controlling Sourcing Risk in Electronic

https://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/2006/,DanaInfo=www.itcon.org+6https://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/2006/,DanaInfo=www.itcon.org+6https://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/2006/,DanaInfo=www.itcon.org+6https://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/2006/,DanaInfo=www.itcon.org+6


93/100

Spickard, J. (2008), How to construct interview protocol, available at:www.mcguire-

spickard.com/Fielding/How%20to%20Construct%20an%20Interview%20Protocol.

pdf(accessed June 30).

Swaminathan, J. M. and Tayur, S. R. (2003), "Models for Supply Chains in E-

Business",Management Science, vol. 49, no. 10, pp. 1387-1406.

Translate to Success (2005), World e-commerce growth projections, available at:

http://www.translate-to-success.com/e-commerce-growth-projections.html (accessed 3rd May 2008).

Van Weele, A. J. (2005), Purchasing and supply chain management: analysis, strategy,

planning and practice, 4th ed, Thomson Learning, London.

Wengraf, T. (2001), Qualitative research interviewing: biographic narrative and semi-

structured methods, Sage, London.

Williams, M. L. and Frolick, M. N. (2001), "The evolution of EDI for competitive

advantage: The FedEx case",Information Systems Management, vol. 18, no. 2, pp.

47.
https://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/Fielding/,DanaInfo=www.mcguire-spickard.com+How%20to%20Construct%20an%20Interview%20Protocol.pdfhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/Fielding/,DanaInfo=www.mcguire-spickard.com+How%20to%20Construct%20an%20Interview%20Protocol.pdfhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/Fielding/,DanaInfo=www.mcguire-spickard.com+How%20to%20Construct%20an%20Interview%20Protocol.pdfhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/Fielding/,DanaInfo=www.mcguire-spickard.com+How%20to%20Construct%20an%20Interview%20Protocol.pdfhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/Fielding/,DanaInfo=www.mcguire-spickard.com+How%20to%20Construct%20an%20Interview%20Protocol.pdfhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/,DanaInfo=www.translate-to-success.com+e-commerce-growth-projections.htmlhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/,DanaInfo=www.translate-to-success.com+e-commerce-growth-projections.htmlhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/,DanaInfo=www.translate-to-success.com+e-commerce-growth-projections.htmlhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/Fielding/,DanaInfo=www.mcguire-spickard.com+How%20to%20Construct%20an%20Interview%20Protocol.pdfhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/Fielding/,DanaInfo=www.mcguire-spickard.com+How%20to%20Construct%20an%20Interview%20Protocol.pdfhttps://extranet.cranfield.ac.uk/Fielding/,DanaInfo=www.mcguire-spickard.com+How%20to%20Construct%20an%20Interview%20Protocol.pdf


94/100



95/100

N INTERVIEWEE TQ and IQ CRITERIA

TQ Identify the critical success factors

10 A,B,C When you come across organisations that have either re-engineered existing procurement systems in a significantway or adopted entirely new processes. What factorsmotivated these decisions?

Must do

11 A,B, C In what way, if at all does a change in e-procurementprocesses impact on other business processes, within theorganisation?

Must do

12 A,B,C If they do which ones and how? Can do

13 A,B,C What roles, if any do the different levels of managementplay in the adoption of e-procurement in anorganisation? E.g (Top management (board), Middlemanagement (SM, strategic role) and managers(operational role)?

Can do

14 B How can users (end users, internal staff) be encouragedto utilise the e-procurement systems, rather than

traditional means of procurement (paper based)?

Must to

15 A,B,C Is there compatibility between initial technologies suchas EDI and e-procurement technologies?

Must do

16 A,B If not, why? Must do

17 B In respect to the reliability and security of VAN (transferthrough EDI) and the popular usage and migration oforganisations to XML language via the internet totransferring data what do you feel will be the future of

Must do



96/100

Appendix 2- Procurement process



97/100

Appendix 3- Value chain



98/100

MSc Thesis Osoba Olaosebikan 90

Appendix 4- Analysis of cases and framework



99/100

MSc Thesis Osoba Olaosebikan 91

Appendix 5- Summary of Interviews with established framework



100/100

Appendix 6- E-procurement tools and procurement process

,DanaInfo=cclibweb-3.central.cranfield.ac.uk+Osoba_o

Documents

Transcript of ,DanaInfo=cclibweb-3.central.cranfield.ac.uk+Osoba_o