This paper presents the results of a literature survey developed to support a proposed model of the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) likely to impact the success of e-Procurement initiatives in the public sector. It identifies a number of relevant variables for each CSF and presents a model for future research. It also analyses the relative importance of different CSFs and observes that organization and management factors are the most important category for success of e-Procurement initiatives. If e-Procurement initiatives in the public sector are to assist the development of e-Procurement across the information economy, there should be wider discussion and agreement on what constitutes the relevant CSFs and how the achievement of success can be assessed.

Public procurement is the commercial arm of governments, contracting for goods, and services to feed public sector service provision. However, mainstream operations and supply chain management journals have published little on supply chains to governments, public procurement, and the significance of engaging small businesses in government supply chains. Policy feedback theory and thirteen coproduced international case studies of public procurement and small business agency dyadic relationships are used to explore this space. The research highlights the importance of both public procurement and small business as areas of policy and supply chain management research. Policy feedback theory is introduced as a means to understand relationships and is applied to a coproduction study to understand how supply chain management research can both explore and change policy.

In this chapter we examine the specific issue of public procurement, its importance to local, regional, national, and international economies as evidenced in a unique international comparative research study -the International Research Study of Public Procurement (IRSPP). First the public procurement literature is examined. Then the story of IRSPP is told -why and how it was formed, and the five phases of research that have been conducted to date since 2003. The phases build on prior phases as knowledge and priorities for research have unfolded.To date IRSPP has contributed to knowledge and changed public procurement practice internationally, specifically relating to understanding international differences and similarities, understanding sectoral issues, examining capacity and capability, exploring the strategic role of public procurement in supporting and delivering economic stimulus packages, and examining how governments can improve engagement of small to medium enterprises in government procurement contracts. It is concluded that it is not necessarily the case that the developed world is outperforming less developed nations; powerful lessons have been learnt from developing nations in terms of their ability to use public procurement as a lever of economic and societal reform and integrate it more fully in government policy and practice.

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore sources of political and administrative challenges which arise from an absence of alignment of supply chains linking the activities of public agencies.Design/methodology/approachThe performance measurement challenges created by an apparent absence of alignment within public sector supply chains are explored from a conceptual perspective, through the supply chain and public sector performance management literature. A case study is provided to highlight the practical and organizational challenges facing politicians, policy makers and public sector managers when they seek to demonstrate to their stakeholders, including the general community, the performance efficiency of their agencies.FindingsThere is an absence of research and debate concerning the alignment of inter‐agency supply chains and the potential this creates for delivery performance failure that disadvantages stakeholders.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this is a conceptual paper, the existence of recurring supply chain problems between agencies, as illustrated by the case study, provides practical conclusions of use to practitioners and policy makers.Originality/valueThe paper revisits earlier literature on performance measurement in the public sector and applies this to a supply chain situation to explore problems in measuring and managing inter‐organizational supply chains which exist not only between public agencies but also between private sector organisations undertaking outsourced contracts on behalf of government.

As government organizations step hopefully into a new century, among the challenges they face will be the demands of the "New Purchasing" and persistent pressure to redefine the role of the purchasing practitioner in government. Reengineering of purchasing activities was a constant feature of the 1990s in many government jurisdictions. Those who manage the function usually influence a large share of organizational expenditure and must also cope with the demands of e-commerce, devolution of responsibility, partnering and strategic alliances, and the implications of globalization within the context of an accountable public sector. Applying some theoretical, functionalist models of a profession, this paper seeks to establish professional credentials for purchasing practitioners.