Division into lots and demand aggregation – extremes looking for the correct balance?

Contesting the public works domain: examining the factors affecting presence and success of SMES in public procurement

“…18 Contrary to the above findings on SMEs' participation in public contracts, SMEs seem more likely to succeed in procurements with several lots rather than undivided contracts. Breaking down contracts into lots so that the size and specificity of individual contracts correspond to SMEs' resource capacity can facilitate them to obtain a slice of the procurement pie (Anchustegui 2016;Schoenmaekers 2015). This aligns with theoretical expectations built on the resource-based view of the firm's theory (Barney 1991;Barney et al 2001), further elaborated by Di Mauro et al (2020), according to which the specialised capabilities of SMEs may engender their competitive advantage.…”

“…Although harmonising national legislation with EU-wide procurement directives, where nondiscriminatory and equal treatment is a rule of thumb, the provisions of national procurement laws can still enact the measures aimed at supporting SMEs, for example, granting an advance payment, setting the adequate value of subdivided functional lots or shortening the guarantee periods for SMEs (EuroPAM, n.d.). Additionally, one must emphasise the diverse approaches individual countries choose to implement the division into lots policy, which is not mandatory in all cases but can be compulsory for specific contracts under national law provisions (Anchustegui 2016).…”