The portuguese public procurement system as a strategic instrument of public management

Abstract

This research aims to evaluate the National Public Procurement System (NPPS) as a strategic instrument of public management, in Portugal. The creation of NPPS, in 2007, followed the European Union model for public procurement, based on criteria of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness that leads to greater transparency and accountability and reflects public value. This experiment analysis which are the weakest and the strongest dimensions of the NPPS and to what extent does the performance of the NPPS fit as a strategic instrument of public management. A research survey, based on the conceptual model developed by Essig et al. (2010) and later applied by Thi et al. (2012), adapted to Portuguese context, was applied to 1,500 entities linked to the NPPS. The sample size of 101 valid questionnaires corresponds to an effective response rate of 5.6%. The data analysis used exploratory factor analysis to validate the distribution of the variables and performed a principal component analysis with varimax rotation. The research concluded that NPPS has, in general, a low level of performance, despite the positive contribution of the “Information and control” and “Electronic platforms” factors in process management. These results corroborate the need for a realignment of the public procurement strategy in Portugal.