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Procurement is the acquisition of goods or services at the best possible total cost of ownership, in the correct quantity, at the correct time, in the correct place for the direct benefit or use of corporations, governments or individuals (Procurement 2005). Electronic procurement is the fulfillment of the procurement function by use of the Internet and new technologies to facilitate a seamless, end-to-end stream of strategic procurement activities enabling improved responsiveness and analysis within the procurement organisation (Wheatley 2003). The aim of the study was to identify the effectiveness and efficiency of the current procurement processes in place at UTi Domestic and to investigate the feasibility of using Electronic Procurement as a possible mechanism for Business Process Re-Engineering within UTi Domestic, to streamline and add value to the overall procurement function. This study was undertaken at UTi domestic in Johannesburg. Questionnaires were used to collect data. In total, twenty-eight procurement staff members and six management members completed separate questionnaires. One hundred percent response rate was achieved for both groups. The procurement staff completed a structured questionnaire while management were asked unstructured questions. Data obtained from the questionnaires were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings of the study indicated that the procurement process at UTi Domestic was inefficient and ineffective. The procurement process was in need of redesign. Controversy existed between management and procurement staff over whether e-procurement would be the solution to the procurement problem. The researcher recommended the implementation of an e-procurement solution as a resolution to the procurement problem, based on the value potential of the solution and the ability of the solution to positively satisfy all of the aims of the study. As supported by the literature, e-procurement can make a significant difference to UTi Domestic. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2006.

Interest in the supply chain management concept by the construction research community arose from the successful implementation by manufacturing sectors to resolve firm and industry performance problems. Construction industry policymakers have appropriated the concept. Researchers tend to develop normative models to improve industry performance through supply chain integration. Such models are based upon the assumption of an homogeneous industry which is fragmented and composed of numerous small to medium sized enterprises. Policymakers are seeking positive economic models however policies are not based upon an explicit detailed understanding of the nature of the industry nor an explicit model of firm and industry performance. The positive economic model accepts that the industry is specialised and heterogenous with varied structural and behavioural characteristics across individual markets. The greatest difficulty with supply chain management in terms of construction research theory and practical application is that currently too little is known about these characteristics and how to describe them. / Procurement modelling across the supply chain is fundamental to describing the underlying structure and behaviour of the industry. The industrial organisation economics theory was examined for its contribution and the structure-conduct-performance methodology was modified to develop a project oriented industrial organisation economic model for procurement in the construction supply chain. The model defines entities such as firms, projects, markets and firm-firm relationships and their relative associations. The model was static and nomothetic in approach and lacked the capacity to represent the duality of structure and behaviour of entities and individual procurement and project scenarios. The object-oriented methodology was used to address this and reinterpret the construction supply chain using the Unified Modelling Language. The model is interdisciplinary and merges industrial organisation economics and object-oriented methodology. Structural and behavioural model views of real world procurement in construction supply chains were developed based upon six major building projects in an Australian city. On thousand two hundred and fifty three procurement relationships were mapped using data collected from forty seven structured interviews and forty four questionnaires. / The data analysis was qualitative and quantitative. Data display techniques were used to describe common themes and differences to develop an ideographic view of procurement. A statistical categorical data analysis provided a nomothetic view by comparing observed procurement results versus likelihood of expected results. The findings indicate that classifications of objects within the supply chain procurement model provides clues to structure and behaviour. Eight structural organisation maps of key construction industry commodities describe typical channels according to the type of commodity and the major groupings within the commodities. Supply chains can be classes according to attributes including uniqueness, property sector, importation and specialisation. Supplier firms can be classed by: commodity significance and countervailing power. The procurement relationships between firms can be classified based upon risk and expenditure, transaction significance and negotiation attributes. There are patterns of behaviour in the industry reliant upon a set of “if / then” type rules. This study concludes that the perception of the industry as fragmented, unstructured, unpredictable and high risk is a simplistic view of what is in reality a complex set of varied and numerous markets with degrees of predictability. Contrary to the traditional view, procurement is a strategic activity. This study highlights numerous research opportunities particularly in the area of interdisciplinary construction industry studies.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 200 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-151).

Thesis (M.Eng.)(Industrial)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-138). Also available in printed version.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Antioch University, 2008 / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Oct. 24, 2008). Advisor: Jon Wergin, Ph.D.. "A dissertation submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September, 2008."--from the title page. Includes bibliographical references (p.129-137).

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 162-168). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Eng.(Industrial Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Summaries in Afrikaans and English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-227).

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.