Improving Organizational Effectiveness Through Meaningful Involvement of Municipal Purchasing Departments - Case Studies From Ontario Canada

Summary

---

This paper could have implications for both public service managers and academics alike. Some of the most difficult challenges facing public purchasers, including those associated with public sector procurement, purchasing consulting services, and purchasing department involvement are discussed. This paper presents insight into the beliefs of municipal purchasing department managers as they relate to meaningful involvement of their departments in consulting service acquisition processes. These research findings may assist others with developing the strategies necessary for increasing municipal purchasing department involvement in these acquisition processes in order to improve organizational effectiveness.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Improving Organizational Effectiveness Through Meaningful Involvement of Municipal Purchasing Departments - Case Studies From Ontario Canada

INTRODUCTION

Purchasing by public agencies (federal, state, provincial, county, municipal, public school systems, public libraries, public hospitals, public colleges and universities, and various other government agencies) is characterized by a unique set of problems (Leenders & Fearon, 1997). In fact, some of the earliest literature acknowledges the difficulties associated with public sector procurement (Forbes, 1929; 1941; Weidenbaum, 1965) and in particular, the challenges associated with municipal purchasing including legal restraints, administrative regulation, and rapid growth and change (Liuzzo, 1967).

Purchasers in the public sector face the classic dilemmas related to public sector organizations, that is, political scrutiny of their activities through both audit and in-house reviews, intensive review by the public for any suggestion of mismanagement of public funds, and sudden changes of policy that characterize government decision-making (Gordon, Zemansky & Sekwat, 2000; Mechling, 1995; Pettijohn & Qiao, 2000). In addition, the set of required purchasing procedures followed by the public sector often increases the number of potential suppliers to consider - managing a much larger number of tenders and suppliers increases the management complexities associated with the selection process. The imperative for public accountability and the increased complexities associated with managing this responsibility make studying the problems as...

See the full content of this document

---