improving the validity of public procurement research

IPPC 2008 Amsterdam/International Journal of Public Sector Management

1

Improving the validity of public procurement research

Dr J. Gordon Murray


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Validity

“… a reliable item is not necessarily valid” (Bell, 1993, p. 65)

“validity is the extend to which the research findings accurately represent

what is really happening” (Hussey and Hussey, 1997, p. 57)


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Introduction

• Now accepted that public procurement is different from that of private sector

Journal of Public Procurement Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management: Special Issue International Public Procurement Conferences IPSERA conference streams International Research Study on Public Procurement

• However, the fundamental uniqueness of pubic procurement is overlooked, namely, the role of politicians

• Therefore, the validity of public procurement research may be weakened


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Four significant political and procurement interfaces

Democratic accountabilityStrategic procurement managementPrincipal/Agent relationshipPerformance management

Ignoring the role of politicians in any one of these may weaken the research

robustness


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Democratic accountability

The pre-eminence of the ballot boxAdvocacy Accountability for decisions Strategic ‘make or buy’ decisions frequently

bypass procurement managers

Yet public procurement research key informant is the procurement manager!


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Strategic procurement management

Politicians set the priorities for the public sector Policies and strategic objectives should cascade to

procurement Lack of correlation between political priorities and

those of procurement managers Is public procurement dysfunctional, e.g. collaboration

and socio-economic goals? Is there a procurement skills deficient?

The key informant of public procurement research is the procurement manager!


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Example from a tripartite survey of the perceived

objectives of local government procurement

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Valu

e m

axim

isatio

n/V

FM

Cost reductio

n

Innovatio

n transfer

Quality

VF

M

Internal support

Legal com

pliance

Sourcin

g

Deliveryin

g servic

es through contracts/partnership

s

Support lo

cal busin

ess

Sustain

able

Green purchasin

g

Tim

e

On tim

e deliverie

s

As per best valu

e

Ethic

s

Environm

ental conscio

usness

Leaders of Council

Chief Executives

Purchasing Managers

Source: Murray, European Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management (2001)


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Strategic procurement management

Politicians set the priorities for the public sector Policies and strategic objectives should cascade to

procurement Lack of correlation between political priorities and

those of procurement managers Is public procurement dysfunctional, e.g. collaboration

and socio-economic goals? Is there a procurement skills deficient?



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Principal/Agent roles

Principal/Agent theory generally applied to buyer/supplier

Public procurement managers are the Agent of politicians

Are procurement managers queens, knights, knaves or pawns?



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Performance management

Little research on public procurement performance management

A procurement performance management system must measure the right things

Procurement's internal customers presented as internal departments

Are public procurement performance management systems reflecting the needs of political leadership?



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Portrayal of politicians in research

Concerned about image and votes Public accountability is a hindrance to managers Decide on conditions of contract and, initiating a

purchase, supplier selection, and contract awards Potentially distorting and corrupting Causing delays and excessive costs

Working from untested anecdotal views may adversely affect the validity of public procurement research


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Limitations of existing research methodologies

1. Key informants of empirical research are procurement professionals & therefore potential bias

2. Consequentially literature reviews have in-built bias

3. Scope of research carried over from private sector research ignoring the uniqueness of public procurement

4. Literature introspective


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Conclusions

Existing research overlooks the uniqueness of public procurement, the political interface

Politicians have major responsibilities for strategic procurement

Role of politicians is not fully understood and sometimes presented in a negative light

Existing research frequently suffers from in-built bias and lack of triangulation

We really don’t know enough about political procurement

Need to recognise the limitations of existing research may effect validity


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To improve the validity of public procurement research

Recognise the significance of politicians in the context of public procurement

Be more critical of responses from procurement managers

Look for triangulation from other actors, particularly politicians


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Questions for further research

What is the desired and optimal engagement of politicians in public procurement?

Do democratically elected representatives see procurement as a political tool?

Is procurement politically maximising its contribution? Is public procurement an underused political tool? What are the views of procurement managers

regarding political leadership in procurement strategy? Is there a difference between the procurement

strategy of the political right or left?


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Improving the validity of public procurement research

Dr J. Gordon Murray

[email protected]

improving the validity of public procurement research

Documents

procurement skills deficient

public procurement dysfunctional

public sector policies

public procurement research

public procurement

procurement managers

strategic objectives

procurement manager