Redesigning the supplier reporting process and system in public procurement case Hansel

Abstract

In this paper, we report the findings of a supplier reporting system redesign project in a public organisation, Hansel Ltd., the central procurement unit of the Finnish Government. With the agency theory as the theoretical lense, the action design research (ADR) as the research method, and electronic invoicing as the facilitating technology, we identify and formulate design principles for building an effective and efficient supplier reporting process and the related information system. In addition to being useful for our case company, we illustrate how these design principles can be applied to a class of similar problems. With this study, we contribute to the knowledge on organisational and information systems design, as well as to the understanding of agency relationships and problems in the public sector.