Procurement

About: Procurement is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25669 publications have been published within this topic receiving 334145 citations.

The effects of procurement policies on ‘downstream’ corporate social responsibility activity Content-analytic insights into the views and actions of SME owner-managers

Abstract: The majority of businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and yet the main thrust of research into corporate social responsibility (CSR) to date focuses on the practice and behaviour of large organizations. The present study is based on the content analysis of free-flow narrative responses to a survey by 68 SME owner-managers. Insights are gained into the environmental and social criteria these firms face when tendering contracts and opinions are sought on issues such as voluntary versus imposed CSR standards. Evidence provided in the survey suggests that there are many examples of positive CSR practice among the SME community. However, we find that the burden of imposed standards, with related increases in bureaucracy and costs, can create frustrations for such firms, resulting in a potential ‘ceiling effect’ and lower overall engagement with CSR.

Corporate social responsibility and sustainable food procurement

Abstract: Purpose – The research (funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation) aims to support the UK Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative by working with leading contract caterers to develop principles of sustainable food procurement and key performance indicators to measure progress in putting them into practice.Design/methodology/approach – Initial informal discussions with catering contractors confirmed the need for the research and explored ideas as to how to take it forward. Extensive secondary research then informed the development of nine draft principles of sustainable food procurement. These were further refined following review by individual companies. An expert panel was then convened for final drafting and to reach consensus.Research limitations/implications – The research provides operating principles that can be used to inform procurement practice. However changing organisational practice, particularly in large organizations, is challenging and will take time. The researchers have produced a guide ...

Sourcing with Deferred Payment and Inspection under Supplier Product Adulteration Risk

Abstract: We study the deferred payment and inspection mechanisms for mitigating supplier product adulteration, with endogenous procurement decision and general defect discovery process. We first derive the optimal deferred payment contract, which reveals that either entire or partial deferral can arise, depending on the moral hazard severity and the information accumulation rate. Because of the supplier's incentive to adulterate, the optimal procurement quantity under deferred payment generally is smaller than the first-best quantity. We then investigate the inspection mechanism and characterize the equilibrium. We find that under the inspection mechanism, the optimal procurement quantity is no less than the first best. A comparison between these two mechanisms shows that the deferred payment mechanism generally can outperform the inspection mechanism when either the market size is small or the profit margin is low. However, we find that these two mechanisms can also be complementary, for which we characterize a necessary condition

Guided buying decision support in an electronic marketplace environment

Abstract: A system (10) for providing guided buying decision support within an electronic marketplace environment includes a server (42) that interacts with buyers (12) to receive procurement parameters for items. An option generator (50) receives procurement parameters for a particular item needed by a particular buyer (12), determines one or more acceptable item-supplier combinations consistent with the procurement parameters for the item, and generates one or more recommended options for communication to the buyer (12), each recommended option specifying a service through which it is possible to procure the item consistent with the procurement parameters. The server (42) further interacts with the buyer (12) to receive a selection of a particular recommended option. A manager application (46) automatically initiates the service specified in the selected recommended option in an attempt to procure the item consistent with the procurement parameters.

Linking procurement systems to project priorities

Abstract: The main objective of this work is to assess the impacts of various procurement variables on project performance, in comparison to the impacts of non-procurement related variables, such as project conditions and team characteristics. Since the impacts of specific procurement variables, such as contract type, have been investigated before, it was decided to first develop a comprehensive framework of procurement options. This framework is based on a holistic overview of procurement systems that included, for example, sub-systems of work packaging, and type of contract. A model was next developed to link the procurement system variables to project outcomes. Additional variables such as the characteristics of the project and the project participants were incorporated into this model as 'intervening' variables. A survey in Hong Kong tested the relative strengths of such procurement sub-systems and intervening variables, in terms of their influences on project outcomes. The interim results are described in this...