Thesis (Ph.D)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Christos Alexopoulos; Committee Co-Chair: Mark Ferguson; Committee Member: Dave Goldsman; Committee Member: Hayriye Ayhan; Committee Member: Paul Griffin. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (PH.D.)--Michigan State University. Marketing, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 11, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 232-250). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.A. in philosophy)--Washington State University, May 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 29, 2009). "Department of Philosophy." Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-70).

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-68). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Larry C. Giunipero, Florida State University, College of Business, Dept. of Marketing. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 12, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains x, 94 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2005. / Advisor: Norman P. Archer. Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-197). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-274).

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The role of the traditional purchasing department has evolved significantly over the last decade into a competitive value adding procurement function within an organisation’s lean supply chain model. It has become a necessity to work with the suppliers to provide flexible, accurate, effective and cost effective goods and/or services (Barla, 2003; Ellram, 2002). In addition organisations are developing and utilising new business models geared towards improving both the balance sheet and the income statement to respond to external forces and new market opportunities. The change in business model places additional emphasis on leveraging increased innovation from suppliers, thus having a vast impact on supply management to such an extent that organisations are creating strategic relationships (Carter et al., 2007). In this paper, the supplier relationship management model will be studied under lean philosophy as to address the focal point – sustainable procurement. The paper will consist of three main areas: Supplier relationship management – Literature study Supplier relationship management – Case study Supplier relationship management – Operational tool Supplier relationship management – Literature study will address the theoretical methodologies, best practices, benefits and advantages, etc. Supplier relationship management – Case study will showcase a South African multi-national FMCG1 manufacturer’s methodology as well as the benefits of utilising a supplier relationship management approach to procurement. Supplier relationship management – Operational tool will be a practical tool developed for evaluating and facilitating supplier relationship management in an African context. The end result of the paper should be a feasible solution to prolonging the impact of procurement, thus increasing sustainability in the maturity stage of procurement’s life span in the typical product life cycle model (Canny Buyer, 2007). 1 Fast Moving Consumer Goods (“FMCG”) are products that have a quick turnover and relatively low cost (Wikipedia, 2007a). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tradisionele rol van die aankope department binne ‘n organisasie het oor die laaste dekade merkwaardig verander en word nou bedryf as ‘n kompeterende waardetoevoegende skakel binne die organisasie se voorsieningsketting. Terselfdetyd het dit noodsaaklik vir leweransiers en organisasies geword om op ’n geïntegreerde wyse te werk te gaan om meer akkurate en koste-effektiewe goedere en/of dienste te lewer (Barla, 2003; Ellram, 2002). Organsisasies is ook genoodsaak om nuwe innoverende besigheidsmodelle te ontwikkel om ten beste eksterne besigheidsfaktore en nuwe markgeleenthede aan te spreek ten einde beide die balanstaat sowel as die inkomste staat positief te impakteer. Hierdie kardinale veranderinge in die besigheidsmodel van organisasies lei daar toe dat addisionele druk op leweransiers geplaas word om met innovasie navore te kom. Op sy beurt plaas dit verdere druk op die voorsieningsketting, selfs tot so ’n mate dat dit die organisasie noop om na die moontlikhede van strategiese vennootskappe te ondersoek (Carter et al., 2007). Die skryfstuk gaan leweransiers verhoudingsbestuurmodelle evalueer en bestudeer binne ‘n voorsieningsketting om sodoende die vraag na volhoubare verkryging te beantwoord. Die skryfstuk sal uit drie fokusareas bestaan, naamlik: Leweransiers Verhoudingsbestuur – Literatuurstudie Leweransiers Verhoudingsbestuur – Gevallestudie Leweransiers Verhoudingsbestuur – Bedrysmodel Leweransiers Verhoudingsbestuur – Literatuurstudie sal die teoretiese metodologie, die vooren nadele van leweransiers verhoudingsbestuur aanspreek. Leweransiers Verhoudingsbestuur – Gevallestudie sal ‘n studie loots binne die verhoudingswerkinge binne ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse multi-nationale maatskapy wat in die vinnige verbruikersgoederemark betrokke is. Leweransiers Verhoudingsbestuur – Bedrysmodel sal ’n praktiese voorstel vorendag bring om ’n leweransiersverhouding meer doeltreffende te bestuur in Afrika. Die eindresultaat van die skryfstuk sal dus ’n lewens vatbare oplossing wees om die volhoubare impak van verkrying te verleng in die volwasse stadium van ‘n produk se lewensiklus (Canny Buyer, 2007).

This study aims to investigate factors affecting the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The study adopted the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model as a theoretical framework and foundation for the research to investigate current status and readiness, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived critical success factors and perceived future organisational performance. Through an extensive literature review and detailed data analysis, the study extended the model to incorporate perceived cultural and external factors that were found to be necessary for the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. Through case studies and AHP analysis, the proposed model elements were validated and prioritised in the Saudi Arabian context. Three different methods were adopted for data collection. First, an exploratory study was conducted to understand the current status of e-procurement and provide an overview of the factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement using the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model. Second, a detailed survey was conducted to find the relative importance of various factors related to each of the five elements of the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model. Third, detailed interviews were conducted across four selected SMEs to gain an insight into the factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement. The results of the exploratory study were helpful in identifying perceived factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement. Detailed survey analysis using AHP validated the theoretical framework and the relevance of the factors of the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model. However, some of the factors were found to be more important than in the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model, while others were less important. Results of the qualitative study (interviews) found additional factors that were relevant to each of the five elements of the GN model. They further suggested that “Current e-procurement activities” was an additional factor in the “current status and readiness” element and “Increased transparency” was an additional factor in the “perceived benefits” element. Similarly, the analysis of the qualitative results found two additional factors in the “perceived barriers” element (i.e. absence of e-procurement specific laws and regulations and lack of trust in the electronic transfer of funds), three additional critical success factors (i.e. cost-benefit analysis of the solution, technical maturity of the marketplace and user-friendliness of the solution) and two additional factors in perceived future organisational performance (i.e. strategic alliance and networking and knowledge management and data warehousing). Further, analysis of the qualitative findings revealed two additional elements (i.e. perceived external and perceived cultural factors). The study thus suggests that organisational culture, cultural inertia and business culture of the country are three important cultural factors that are perceived to affect the adoption of e-procurement, while government support, having one’s own postal addresses and delivery services, providing secure and trustworthy online payment options, low cost and high speed internet connection, suppliers’ willingness and readiness, pressure from competitors, policy and regulations are the seven important perceived external factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The results of the qualitative data analysis led to the development of an extended Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model to incorporate perceived culture and perceived external factors. The study has significant implications in terms of further e-procurement research for SMEs in Saudi Arabia and also its adoption in the developing world in general.

Submitted by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2016-05-24T21:02:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 REIS, Paulo Ricardo da Costa.pdf: 1671760 bytes, checksum: 238ffc0428e4da85baad0595de2216e4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Angela Dortas (dortas@ufba.br) on 2016-06-13T17:20:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 REIS, Paulo Ricardo da Costa.pdf: 1671760 bytes, checksum: 238ffc0428e4da85baad0595de2216e4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-13T17:20:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 REIS, Paulo Ricardo da Costa.pdf: 1671760 bytes, checksum: 238ffc0428e4da85baad0595de2216e4 (MD5) / Ao longo dos últimos anos, vários governos em todo o mundo vêm promovendo transformações para reformar seus sistemas de contratação pública. Nesse sentido, diferentes regulamentações e mecanismos de governança têm sido criados em conformidade com o contexto institucional de cada país. No Brasil, por exemplo, observam-se, desde a implementação da Lei Geral de Licitações em 1993, as experiências ligadas ao desenvolvimento do Portal de Compras do Governo Federal (Comprasnet) para suportar processos eletrônicos de aquisições de vários tipos de bens e serviços, por meio da modalidade pregão, instituída em 2002; a introdução de um programa de preferência para prover apoio às micro e pequenas empresas, implementado através da Lei Geral da Micro e Pequena Empresa de 2006; e a ampliação da discricionariedade dos agentes públicos no processo de contratação, por meio do Regime Diferenciado de Contratação de 2011. Não obstante, em que pesem o número de mudanças empreendidas e a crescente preocupação com aspectos ligados ao desempenho das licitações públicas no Brasil, verifica-se que a produção acadêmica nas áreas de administração e administração pública tem sido limitada. Destarte, utilizando bases de dados únicas, que incluem diferentes modalidades de licitação e diferentes tipos de objetos, obras e serviços adquiridos pela administração pública federal, no presente trabalho, investiga-se o desempenho das compras públicas brasileiras tendo como base as mudanças institucionais, promovidas por novas regulamentações. Os principais resultados sugerem efeitos positivos em cada uma das experiências investigadas, porém, os achados também advertem que elas possuem efeitos distintos nas variáveis de desempenho observadas. Adicionalmente, os resultados indicam que, independente da experiência observada, fatores estratégicos associados ao ambiente competitivo, às capacidades inerentes aos agentes envolvidos nos processos e aos atributos transacionais influenciam o desempenho das compras públicas. Nesse sentido, este trabalho oferece um conjunto de evidências empíricas sobre os resultados alcançados a partir das mudanças institucionais nos procedimentos de compras públicas, e defende a necessidade de melhorias nas ferramentas que estão atualmente à disposição dos gestores de compras públicas Over the last years, governments around the world have been promoting changes to reform their procurement systems. In this direction, different regulations and governance mechanisms have been established in accordance with the institutional context of each country. In Brazil, for example, can be observed from the implementation of the General Public Procurement Law in 1993, the experiences related to the development of Comprasnet (the Brazilian procurement bidding platform) to support electronic processes to purchasing various types of goods and services through reverse auction, established in 2002; the introduction of a preference program to provide support to micro and small enterprises, implemented through the General Micro and Small Enterprise Law in 2006; and the expansion of the discretion in the hiring process through Regime Diferenciado de Contratação in 2011. Nevertheless, despite the number of changes undertaken and the growing concern about the issues linked to performance of public procurement in Brazil, it turns out that academic research in the areas of management and public administration has been limited. Thus, using a unique set of databases that include different types of bidding and different types of objects, works, goods and services purchased by the federal government, the present study investigates the performance of the Brazilian public procurement system based on the institutional changes promoted by the new regulations. The main results suggest positive effects on each of the experiences investigated, but the findings also warn that they have different effects on performance variables observed. Additionally, the results suggest that, regardless of observed experience, strategic factors associated with the competitive environment, the capabilities inherent to the agents involved in the processes and transactional attributes influence the performance of public procurement. In this way, this paper provides a set of empirical evidence on the results achieved from the institutional changes in the Brazilian public procurement procedures, and argues for the need for improvements in the tools that are currently available to public sector procurement offices.