End-user involvement enhancing innovativeness in public procurement. Evidence from a healthcare procurement.

Lotta Pauliina Haukipuro,Hannu Torvinen,Satu Väinämö

doi:10.24840/2183-0606_004.004_0007

Lotta Pauliina Haukipuro, Hannu Torvinen + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.24840/2183-0606_004.004_0007

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Abstract

This paper examines public procuring, aiming to increase understanding on how living lab approach and end-user involvement create innovativeness and enhance public procurement results, providing effectiveness and better solutions. Empirical findings are based on a real-life unique public procurement in the healthcare field where living lab approach was used through product testing phase which was included in the procurement procedure. Selected group of users performed product testing in a real homecare environment. Quality of the product formed on the basis of product testing was in significant role for the first time in public healthcare related procurement of City of Oulu, Finland; the winning solution was not the most affordable but the one obtaining highest scores by users. The findings of the study suggest that product testing as a part of public procurement should be more widely taken into use, however, considering the right balance of price-quality ratio to ensure innovativeness. Based on the study, we propose a framework for product testing as a part of public procurement through open procedure.

Highlights

Innovation is defined as novelty or reform with significant productivity, economic efficiency, or other value-adding effect on the organization’s performance (Yliherva, 2006)
We address the innovative public procurement by a thorough exploration of a public procurement case, to increase the understanding of how the living lab approach and end-user involvement can create innovativeness, and possibly enhance public procurement procedure
The study presented a public procurement case in which product testing service provided by a living lab was included for the first time in a public procurement in the City of Oulu

Summary

Introduction

Innovation is defined as novelty or reform with significant productivity, economic efficiency, or other value-adding effect on the organization’s performance (Yliherva, 2006). Innovation is seen as something original, new, and important that breaks in to, or obtains a foothold in a market or society (Frankelius, 2009). The roots of common Western innovation policies can be found from Schumpeter’s theories: according to Schumpeter’s early thoughts (1934), innovations that lead to economic growth can be new products, production methods, markets, material sources, or operation forms of the organization. Lee et al (2012) see innovations necessary for improving public sector’s productivity and new more cost-effective operations. An extremely prominent source for innovations is customer interfaces propitious to the exchange of know-how, information, viewpoints, experiences, cultures and resources (Yliherva, 2006). The possibility to enhance the involvement of end-users in the ISSN 2183-0606 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

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