Public Procurement Process Research Articles

Electronic Public Procurement: Process and Cybersecurity Issues

Abstract E-public procurement has a great potential to improve public procurement processes. It helps to increase competitiveness, and the use of digital technologies also minimizes transaction costs for business, increases trust and the transparency of decisions made by public customers. The goal of this case study is to analyze the functionalities of the Kazakh e-procurement web portal EPP, to evaluate them in a national and comparative perspective and to propose recommendations with a focus on selected process issues and its cybersecurity in the condition of digital transformation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The analysis of functionalities of EPP from planning to execution of the contract allows it to propose important changes with the potential to increase competitiveness and decrease transaction costs of procurement in the country. The specific focus is on cybersecurity and proposals how to increase it.

A group-AHP-based approach for selecting the best public tender

This paper focuses on the selection of the best tender in a public procurement process. This process involves different steps: the design of the tender process, the choice of tender selection methods, and scoring rules for evaluating tenders—the ex post control. Due to the interconnections between the rules on public contracts and those aimed to tackle corruption, the choice of tender selection methods and scoring rules for evaluating tenders assumes a crucial importance. The criterion usually used to select the best tender is the most economic advantageous tender (MEAT) based on the evaluation of technical requirements, on the one hand, and economic offer, on the other hand. First, this paper highlights some critical issues on the weighted sum method and some analytical formulas, commonly used to calculate the MEAT. Then, in order to apply a unique procedure and limit some risks of corruption and collusive agreements, it proposes to implement a unified group-AHP approach: In particular, a group-AHP model is applied for analyzing the qualitative component and another AHP model is used for the quantitative component.

Review of green and sustainable public procurement: Towards circular public procurement

This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of preliminary publications on green and sustainable public procurement from the year 2000 until now. The aim of the review is to organise, evaluate and identify patterns and clusters in published articles, providing an overview of the state of the art in green and sustainable public procurement. Classification of the data identified three overall themes: organisational aspects, individual behaviour and operational tools, which comprise nine sub-categories: three organisational, two behavioural and four operational. The review shows how awareness and knowledge of circular public procurement attributes, based on circular policy and strategy implementation, are essential to conduct circular public procurement. The procurer’s beliefs and values are of high relevance in a transformation towards circular public procurement, simply not going for the lowest price, but finding an optimum combination that includes risk, timeliness and cost for the public institution on a life-cycle basis. Eco-labels, standards, life cycle assessments and life cycle costing are core parts of the process. Outlining the present knowledge as a foundation for future research in circular public procurement process development, this paper holds implications for both academics and procurement practitioners.

Reducing Contract Management Challenges in Public Sector Procurement in Zimbabwe

The State Procurement Board procedures and the public procurement process have been criticized for much of the lagging behind of government projects, such as the construction of roads, provision of clean water and sewer reticulation, amongst others (The Herald, 20 January 2018). The awarding of tenders for various projects has resulted in the delay or non-completion of crucial projects. This study aims to investigate the public procurement process in Zimbabwe, identify procurement challenges in the Zimbabwe public sector that detract from service delivery and suggest strategies to reduce contract management challenges in public sector procurement. The study adopted a mixed approach to research. The systematic random sampling method was adopted to select respondents for quantitative research while the purposive method was adopted to select respondents for qualitative research. The SPSS version 20.0 was adopted to analyse quantitative data while the reduction method was used for qualitative data. Findings reveal that there is no standard meaning for contract management in public sector procurement. The study revealed that to avoid delays in supply and provision of services, electronic-procurement (E-procurement) was pointed out as one of the solutions as that can enhance transparency of the procurement process, efficiency and policy coherence. Poor planning was also identified as one of the challenges of public procurement. The study recommended that Public sector organizations should adopt a strategic approach to contract management practices.

Challenges in public procurement in Kwahu West Municipal Assembly, Ghana

Public procurement is a legal means by which goods, works and services are acquired by public entities including District Assemblies to promote development. Although the procurement process is to enhance judicious government spending, it has been seen as bureaucratic and cumbersome. This study set out to examine challenges that characterise public procurement process in Kwahu West Municipal Assembly within the legal framework in Ghana. Qualitative approach was employed in the study. Purposive and snowballing sampling techniques were used to draw participants for the study while interview guides and focus group discussion guides were used in data collection. The study found that low level of professionalism on the part of suppliers and contractors, bureaucracy, corruption and political interference characterised the procurement process and recommended that citizens should be concerned about how their monies are being spent by monitoring the procurement process in order to achieve value for money. Keywords: Bureaucracy, Corruption, Development, Government, Procurement

Effects of Procurement Strategies and Contract Management Practices on the Performance of Road Construction Projects in Ghana.

Procurement is one of the public sector practices that have taken centre stage in Ghana. A major area where best practices in procurement had been employed is road construction. As a result of the volume of work that has to be done and resources to be utilized, there is the need to adopt best practices and strategies to ensure efficiency and quality delivery of service. This study assessed procurement strategies and contract management practices and how they affect performance of road construction projects in Ghana. The study found that competitive and restricted tendering give value for money because they had the lowest coefficient of variation when compared to the other attributes for road construction. The study dwells on the mixed method and purposive sampling has been deployed in the research. In conclusion, the study suggested that procurement strategy was a critical factor that positively affects performance of road construction projects in Ghana. The study recommends that Public Procurement Authority must strive to improve on its administrative role of monitoring the various District Assemblies to ensure proper Procurement Strategies and Contract Management Practices are always adhered to, so that there will be value for money in Public Procurement Process.

Framework contracts for medicine inventory management in public healthcare

Learning outcomes This paper aims to highlight the implications of financial planning for public procurement process for medicine purchase. The purpose of this case is also to understand how the choice of contract type in public procurement impacts medicine inventory levels and availability. It finally highlights the appropriate configuration of framework procurement contract for procurement of discrete goods in the context of public sector procurement. Case overview/synopsis Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD), Government of the Punjab provides free public health-care services in the Punjab province. Public health-care services of P&SHD are organised in a tiered manner with almost 3,000 primary and secondary medical facilities dispersed throughout the Punjab province. P&SHD maintains inventories of approximately 300 medicines to support medical service provision. Complexity academic level This case can be taught in procurement and inventory management module of MBA level operations management course. It can also be used in executive course on public sector procurement management. The case aims to highlight the interrelation between inventory planning and procurement management process. Hence, it should be used after participants have understood inventory models, procurement process and procurement contract types. Standard readings or cases on inventory and procurement management that cover topics such economic order quantity, procurement process steps and procurement contracts can be used to develop this understanding. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

Structural development of the tender based land allocation process enables an improved public building development activity

ABSTRACT Detailed planning for housing development is the responsibility of the respective municipalities in Sweden. Further, an ambition to develop sustainable building solutions based on wood is combined with each municipality’s building requirements, which increases complexity in the public process. Public actions leading to increased construction of wooden multi-family houses are important for all actors in this process, which is managed by municipalities through the Public Procurement Act or the land allocation process, depending on their development plan and strategy. The aim is to shed light on how the land allocation process is currently performed, to improve efficiency and provide transparency and structure between developers and municipalities. The study uses the public procurement process as a conceptual model to structure the various activities in the land allocation process based on the similarities between the two processes. Thereafter, it is applied to the tender-based land allocation process to provide a transparent process for municipalities to follow. The results display discrepancies in perception of the land allocation process and the level of competence displayed by municipalities when managing this process. This hinders the development of wooden multi-family houses in Sweden.

РОЗВИТОК ЗАКОНОДАВСТВА УКРАЇНИ ЩОДО ПУБЛІЧНИХ ЗАКУПІВЕЛЬ

The article deals with the study of the genesis of Ukrainian legislation on public or public procurement, which made it possible to distinguish legislative acts that have gradually changed the process of public procurement. The main differences between the Law on Public Procurement (currently in force) from the laws regulating procurement during the years of Ukraine’s independence are indicated, namely: increased value of the procurement subject for the mandatory application of the public procurement procedure; the number of procurement procedures from fifth to three has been reduced, namely: open tenders, which are the main procedure, competitive dialogue, negotiation procedure; a mechanism for electronic procurement and an electron system for appealing appeared; the terms of the procurement procedure were shortened; the possibility of using the electronic procurement system for tentative procurement became possible; a change in the system of public control and the prohibition of interference of citizens and public organizations in the procurement procedure; the number of types of offer security and performance of the procurement contract is reduced; the requirements to the form of the contract of purchase have been changed, if earlier the purchase law was fixed the form of the contract of purchase, then at this time the form of the contract of purchase is determined by the general legislation of Ukraine (Economic Code of Ukraine and the Civil Code of Ukraine) taking into account the specifics of the Procurement law. The authors singled out the four stages of the Ukraine’s legislation on state or public procurement from 1992 to the present. The legislation in force at the present time, characterized by a system of electronic procurement, due to the need to bring the Ukraine’s legislation with the EU legislation. REFERENCES1. Karasova V. Istoriia rozvytku derzhavnykh zakupivel. Formuvannia rynkovykh vidnosyn v Ukraini. 2003. No. 9. P. 105-110 [in Ukrainian].2. Kovalenko I. Rozvytok zakonodavstva z pytan derzhavnykh zakupivel. Yurydychnyi visnyk Ukrainy. 2011. No. 24. P. 14 [in Ukrainian].3. Olefir A.O. Hospodarsko-pravove zabezpechennia derzhavnykh zakupivel u sferi okhorony zdorovia: teoretychni ta praktychni aspekty. Kharkiv: Yurait, 2012. 456 p. [in Ukrainian].4. Podcerkovnyj O.P. Pravovaja priroda otnoshenij v sfere gosudarstvennogo zakaza. Predprinimatel’stvo, hozjajstvo i pravo. 2003. No. 5. P. 8-10 [in Russian].5. Pinkas H.I. Osnovni etapy rozvytku derzhavnykh zakupivel v Ukraini. Ekonomika, finansy, pravo. 2009. No. 12. P. 11-15 [in Ukrainian].6. Shatkovskyi O. Rozvytok zakonodavstva Ukrainy shchodo derzhavnykh zakupivel: vid evoliutsii do revoliutsii. Radnyk v sferi derzhavnykh zakupivel. 2015. No. 5. P. 44-48 [in Ukrainian].7. Starchuk Ye. V epitsentri dyskusii zamovnyk — derzhavne pidpryiemstvo. Derzhzakupivli. 2016. No. 8. URL: http://edz.mcfr.ua/ article.aspx?aid=486724 [in Ukrainian].8. Parasii-Verhunenko I.M. Analiz publichnykh zakupivel: metodychni ta praktychni aspekty. Naukovi zapysky Natsionalnoho universytetu Ostrozka akademiia. Seriia: Ekonomika. 2017. No. 7. P. 65-71 [in Ukrainian].

Barriers in the Public Procurement Process: Restricting Long-Term Sustainable Construction of Wooden Buildings

The municipalities control the planning of new housing projects in Sweden, basing their decisions on the general requirements and future strategic expectations. The activity is managed through the Public Procurement Act or the land allocation process depending on their development strategy. It involves the development of local strategies regarding design and geographical development, as well as the development of suitable procurement methods. Therefore, having the ambition to develop sustainability by increasing the use of wood building solutions imposes new challenges on the procurement process performed by municipalities in Sweden. The aim of this study is to identify ways to overcome barriers in the public procurement process for new building developments based on land allocation projects managed by Swedish municipalities, enabling an increase in wooden multifamily houses in Sweden. The study is based on direct participation at a municipality performing this activity, combined with interviews including municipalities and developers involved in the procurement process using land allocation. The result shows discrepancies in how the municipalities and developers perceive the land allocation activities. Furthermore, national standards, equal evaluation methods and a defined procurement process have been identified as drivers towards an efficient activity, which currently acts as a barrier to the development of wooden multifamily houses.

Study Regarding the Planning Stage of the Romanian Public Procurement Process

Abstract In order to award a public procurement contract for the acquisition of a product, work or service, the contracting authority must follow a succession of stages, which represent a public procurement process. As a stage of the public procurement process, planning represents all the activities carried out in public institutions that determine their main objectives, the manner in which they are achieved, and what resources will be used during the process. Planning the procurement process is crucial. Failure to properly implement it results in errors and problems during the process of awarding and implementing the contract. The general objective of the paper is to identify and solve the problems that arise during the process of planning the public procurement in Romania, by identifying and anticipating some directions leading to the improvement of the entire public procurement system.

Bid Rigging Analysis and Relevant Provisions in the Serbian Legislation

The article reviews the main characteristics of bid rigging in public procurement regarding some forms, objectives and consequences, as well as various features of the industry, products and services that tend to facilitate collusion in public tenders. This article also describes the most common indicators of bid rigging in order to detect and prevent anticompetitive collusion. For the purpose of this analysis, the common definition of bid rigging and some practical examples are included in order to elaborate effective measures for its detection and prevention. Taking into consideration that certain public procurement rules may support bid rigging by lessening competition, this article gives an overview of the Law on Public Procurement in Serbia. It outlines relevant provisions that should boost competition and stimulate participation of potential bidders in the public procurement process. Some incentives concerning participation of small and medium enterprises in public procurement are examined, as well as certain new provisions aimed at increasing transparency, promoting integrity and preventing corruption in public procurement. This article also emphasizes the role of the Commission for Protection of Competition in fighting against bid rigging in public procurement. It includes examination based on legislative framework and empirical data of the Commission for Protection of Competition, that performs the activities in accordance with the Law on Protection of Competition. Some examples of bid rigging cases in Serbia are examined, as well. Finally, concluding remarks and recommendations are included.

Political Competition and Public Procurement Outcomes

This article asks if low political competition is associated with more restricted public procurement processes. Using unique Swedish municipal data from 2009 to 2015, it demonstrates that when one party dominates local politics, noncompetitive outcomes from public procurement processes are more common. What is most striking is that the risk of receiving only one bid, on what is intended to be an open and competitive tender, considerably increases with long-standing one-party rule. The article contributes to a significant body of work on the detrimental effects of low political competition, and the results are particularly interesting from a comparative perspective because Sweden—an old democracy with a meritocratic bureaucracy, characterized by low levels of corruption and clientelism—is a highly unlikely case in which to find such tendencies.

A data visualization tool to benchmark government tendering process

Purpose Government e-Procurement systems are generating tender-level process event data which are not being analyzed much. The purpose of this paper is to present a data visualization tool to benchmark the government tendering process. This tool collects, collates and presents e-Procurement process data in a meaningful way that enables comparisons and benchmarking leading to insights for process improvements and identification of the best practices. This tool is accessible on the website of South Asia’s first public procurement observatory (www.procurementobservatoryup.com) founded by the authors. Design/methodology/approach The authors started with an initial set of key performance indicators (KPIs) based on extant literature and existing practices. The authors got them verified by various relevant stakeholders through a series of formal and informal discussions. Some of them were dropped due to observed variations or their inability to offer insights to arrive at the final set of KPIs. In this paper, the authors use actual process-level data. Government of India’s National Informatics Center has implemented e-Procurement portals in various states and public enterprises (PEs) in India which provide tender-wise detailed e-tendering process data. The authors designed a web crawler that collects these data in a tabular format, which allows an easy analysis and comparison to measure and compare government tendering process performance for the last five years for the two large PEs. The authors also engaged in discussions with the procurement executives of the two PSEs to derive meaningful managerial insights from the results obtained. Findings Using the public procurement data visualization tool, the authors compare the procurement process of two of the largest Indian PEs, Coal India Limited and Indian Oil Corporation on the developed KPIs and draw insights. The results show significant difference in their procurement process performance due to different practices followed by them. Through interaction with the procurement managers of these two organizations, the authors identify few good procurement practices that can be applied to improve public procurement process. Research limitations/implications This paper uses actual process-level data which can be used not just to identify improvement opportunities but also to gauge the impact of any process-level change. It presents a data visualization tool to generate insights from data generated by a procurement/tendering system. Such visualization and benchmarking can uncover better procurement practices and provide an impetus toward data-driven policy formulation. Apart from the two PEs as reported in this paper, this tool has also been applied on the public procurement data of eight Indian states. Practical implications The KPIs presented in this paper are aligned with the various dimensions of public procurement’s objectives. The visualization tool presented in this paper is based on the Open Contract Data Standard and has a universal application. Social implications The use of technology and open data sharing as the enablers of benchmarking and process improvements help in establishing a dynamic competitive environment leading to financial savings, better services to citizens and proper use of taxpayers’ money. Originality/value This paper presents an original work carried out under the aegis of South Asia’s first procurement observatory at IIM Lucknow. The benchmarking tool presented in this paper uses open contract data standard and can be applied in most of the public procurement processes. This paper takes the discussions on e-Procurement to the next level, where the concern is no longer restricted to only adoption and assimilation issues, but also on how to make use of the data that these e-Procurement systems generate.

The “baby steps” in mainstreaming sustainable public procurement in Ghana: A “double‐agency” perspective

The emerging literature on public procurement policy suggests that public procurement may be leveraged to advance several public policy agenda. Hence, many countries have reformed their public procurement process towards social and environmental outcomes termed sustainable public procurement. These reforms have often been launched in response to international initiatives such as the global 10‐year framework for action on sustainable consumption and production by the Johannesburg implementation plan in 2002 and the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, empirical evidence on the drivers and benefits of SPP in developing countries is still scarce. This gap is addressed with a qualitative case study of six public sector institutions in Ghana. On the basis of elite interviews, this paper highlights barriers to mainstreaming SPP in Ghana's public sector. We further advance the scanty principal–agency literature by establishing a double‐agency relationship in the context of SPP, which depicts limited agency cases where principals lack the capacity to defend their own interests.

Economic aspects of public procurement parameters in tertiary education sector

Public procurement is a very important area of competitiveness development of the countries. Significant public sector financial resources are allocated through public procurement. Over the last decade, there has been a growing demand for an investigation of the efficiency of public procurement processes. In the research studies, analyses focusing on methodological aspects, efficiency assessment models, economic and transaction costs and other economic parameters in relation to public procurement have begun to appear gradually. Their importance has increased in the recent period, especially in the era associated with a lack of financial resources in the economic and social spheres. A correct determination of the mechanisms ensuring the implementation of transparent competition is able to allow improvement of competitive environment. Such aspects prompt this study, which is aimed at examination of the selected parameters of public procurement in the tertiary education sector and their impact on the final cost of the public procurement contract. There are no such sectoral analyses within the national environments, making it difficult to create an international comparative basis. The aim of the paper is to investigate the impact of the selected public procurement parameters on the final price. These parameters are subcontractor participation, European funds funding, usage of electronic auction, type of procured item, and procurement procedure. Besides these ones, public procurement processes also influence the final price. Approximately, a share of 95 % from the expected price is reflected in the final price, whilst a mean regression coefficient of the number of offers reaches a level of -17499.07 in the year 2017. The outcome of the analysis can help the procurers to identify the behavior of public procurement and to confirm or disprove the significance of the parameters that are examined using the quantitative methods. The results of this analysis are beneficial for national policymakers as well as national and international benchmarking.

A cloud-based approach to dynamically manage service contracts for local public transportation

Public contracts regulate how public services are managed by the stakeholders. However, the current technological trend is creating a significant bias between the pace at which service data are produced and that at which contracts change. This increased availability of service data can be exploited in public procurement processes by fostering novel approaches to manage contracts, making them more dynamic and improving the Quality of Service (QoS) delivered to customers. In this paper, a cloud-based approach for assessing the QoS in Local Transportation Services (LTSs) in Apulia Region (Southern Italy) is proposed. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between providers and the Regional Authority, as well as the minimal guaranteed QoS levels between providers and passengers, are modelled as contracts enacted via a cloud-based system, which gathers data from sensors and passengers. In this way, changes in contract conditions for improving the perceived and delivered QoS can be fastened and facilitated based on data. In order to validate the pilot case, a set of quality indicators and service levels grounded in European and Italian regulatory frameworks has been considered.

Spanish Public Procurement: legislation, open data source and extracting valuable information of procurement announcements

Open Data in Public Administrations and, in particular, the publications of public procurement (tenders) is a source of valuable information for the decision-making procedure. The analysis of public tenders can provide valuable information for the different stakeholders: politicians, public managers, project managers, executives and, indirectly, citizens. Open Data allows the application of Business Intelligent and massive data processing techniques. This study presents the current situation of the Spanish Public Procurement processes and its open data sources available for citizens. The focus of the study is the Request-For-Proposal (RFP) and tender submission related data. The European and Spanish legislation which applies to this topic is collected. The Spanish Public Sector Contracting Platform, which is the web platform where public procurement announcements and their resolutions are published, is explained. The information can be very useful for researchers who want to carry out studies applying massive data processing techniques. A use case is presented using the open data of that web platform with different approaches to demonstrate its usefulness in a Business Intelligent context. Examples describing quantitative, geographic, sectorial competitiveness and interregional mobility analysis are presented illustrating possible applications.

Public Procurement, Regional Integration and the Belt and Road Initiative

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a mechanism through which countries can upgrade connectivity-related infrastructure, including through cross-border projects, complementing traditional sources of finance. An overarching goal of the BRI is to reduce trade costs between China and partner countries, in part by helping to integrate regional markets. The large-scale borrowing associated with BRI projects has given rise to potential debt servicing and sustainability concerns. The rate of return of BRI regional infrastructure projects depends in part on the integrity of public procurement processes and realizing value for money objectives. To date BRI projects financed by Chinese institutions have been largely awarded to Chinese companies. In this paper, we discuss good practices and policy options to enhance transparency of BRI procurement processes and achieve value for money, including through international cooperation among countries participating in the BRI.

Why Research Should Pay Attention to Effects of Marketization of Addiction Treatment Systems.

Researchers generally assume that addiction treatment systems can be viewed as entities and planned with the citizens' best interests in mind. We argue that another steering principle, the market logic, has permeated many Western World treatment systems but is neglected in research. We demonstrate how it may affect system-level planning, service provision, and the service users. We draw on an ongoing Swedish study, with some Nordic references, using several data sources: (1) public statistics on treatment expenditures and purchases; (2) interviews with service users (n = 36) and their service providers (n = 23) on different market features; (3) an observation of a large public procurement process concluding framework agreements based on competitive tendering; (4) interviews with officials involved with steering of the system and procurement (n = 16); (5) a workshop on procurement in the Nordic countries (n = 11 participants); and (6) 77 interviews with professionals, managers, and elected representatives. We outline seven propositions that call for further research attention: public procurement, as regulated in the European Union, is not suitable for addiction treatment; marketization challenges democracy, equity, needs assessment, and treatment planning; marketization causes new accountability problems and idle monitoring; marketization causes fragmentation and obstructs coordination and continuity of care; marketization causes unification of services and favors big bureaucratically sophisticated providers; treatment professionals' values are downplayed when a mistrust-based market logic replaces a trust- and needs-based logic; and marketization marginalizes treatment professionals and service users by limiting discretion. Findings point toward the importance of acknowledging and mitigating market principles in treatment systems to safeguard needs assessments and planning that serve the interests of the service users and the public.