Improving the Validity of public procurement research
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The document discusses the complexities and validity issues within public procurement research, emphasizing the often-overlooked role of politicians in shaping procurement policies and practices. It critiques existing methodologies that lean heavily on procurement managers as key informants, suggesting that this may introduce bias and diminish the robustness of research findings. The author calls for greater recognition of the political interfaces in procurement and advocates for triangulation from various stakeholders to enhance research validity.
![Snider & Rendon (2008) JoPP, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 316-317 and IPPC 2008 proceedings “ A review of selected public procurement research reveals a tendency to treat the field in a way that distances it from ‘policy’ …[for example] portray public procurement as a tool, mechanism or lever for what [researchers] label as ‘policies’… however such policies could more precisely be labelled desired results which governments attempt to achieve through specific procurement policies”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ippc2008validitty-1251483065403-phpapp02/85/Improving-the-Validity-of-public-procurement-research-13-320.jpg)
![Improving the validity of public procurement research Dr J. Gordon Murray [email_address]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ippc2008validitty-1251483065403-phpapp02/85/Improving-the-Validity-of-public-procurement-research-17-320.jpg)
Improving the Validity of public procurement research
- 1. Improving the validity of public procurement research Dr J. Gordon Murray
- 2. 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)
- 3. 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
- 4. Four significant political and procurement interfaces Democratic accountability Strategic procurement management Principal/Agent relationship Performance management Ignoring the role of politicians in any one of these may weaken the research robustness
- 5. Democratic accountability The pre-eminence of the ballot box Advocacy Accountability for decisions Strategic ‘make or buy’ decisions frequently bypass procurement managers Yet public procurement research key informant is the procurement manager!
- 6. 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!
- 7. Example from a tripartite survey of the perceived objectives of local government procurement Source: Murray, European Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management (2001)
- 8. 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!
- 9. 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? The key informant of public procurement research is the procurement manager!
- 10. 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? The key informant of public procurement research is the procurement manager!
- 11. 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
- 12. Limitations of existing research methodologies Key informants of empirical research are procurement professionals & therefore potential bias Consequentially literature reviews have in-built bias Scope of research carried over from private sector research ignoring the uniqueness of public procurement Literature introspective
- 13. Snider & Rendon (2008) JoPP, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 316-317 and IPPC 2008 proceedings “ A review of selected public procurement research reveals a tendency to treat the field in a way that distances it from ‘policy’ …[for example] portray public procurement as a tool, mechanism or lever for what [researchers] label as ‘policies’… however such policies could more precisely be labelled desired results which governments attempt to achieve through specific procurement policies”
- 14. 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
- 15. 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
- 16. 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?
- 17. Improving the validity of public procurement research Dr J. Gordon Murray [email_address]