Acknowledging knowledge. The perception of knowledge requirements for public procurement officials and their professional development
| Pages | 50-67 |
| Date | 05 March 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-03-2018-004 |
| Published date | 05 March 2018 |
| Author | Adam M. Williams,Fion Lau,Clifford P. McCue |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management,Government,Economics,Public finance/economics,Taxation/public revenue |
Acknowledging knowledge
The perception of knowledge requirements for
public procurement officials and their
professional development
Adam M. Williams
Department of Public Administration, University of Illinois, Springfield,
Illinois, USA
Fion Lau
Department of Public Administration, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw,
Georgia, USA, and
Clifford P. McCue
School of Public Administration, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton,
Florida, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge public procurement professionals
perceiveas important for performing their duties.
Design/methodology/approach –Using secondary data generated from a job analysis study
commissioned by the Universal Public ProcurementCertification Council [UPPCC], this paper examined the
knowledge sets that procurement officials recognize as necessary and sufficient for daily operations and
professionaldevelopment.
Findings –Principal ComponentAnalysis is used to validate the six domains of knowledge covered on the
survey. This paper identifies sets of core knowledge domains that are essential for procurement
administration, including sourcing, negotiation process, contract administration, supply management and
strategicprocurement planning.
Originality/value –Furthermore, the authors incorporatedanecdotal commentary information from the
same survey to determine whatadditional professional development and continuing educationopportunities
procurementofficials are seeking to improve performancein their current and future work roles.
Keywords Procurement, Professional development, Education, Administration,
Knowledge requirements, Job analysis
Paper type Research paper
Background
What constitutes a public procurement professional? What knowledge and skill sets are
required? How and what should an individual demonstrate to be certified as a procurement
professional? Whatother knowledge do these professionals seek to furthertheir training and
career development? Theseare the questions the Universal Public Procurement Certification
Council (UPPCC) wished to answer whenit commissioned a job analysis study in 2012, and
the subsequent data formsthe basis for this study[1].
The UPPCC is the governing body that administers the Certified Professional Public
Buyer (CPPB) and the Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) examinations. It
JOPP
18,1
50
Journalof Public Procurement
Vol.18 No. 1, 2018
pp. 50-67
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1535-0118
DOI 10.1108/JOPP-03-2018-004
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1535-0118.htm
provides certification to public procurement professionals practicing in the USA,
Canada and internationally. These certifications provide credentials for public
procurement officials on the basis of examination of knowledge and experience. The
UPPCC Board frequently publishes the results of professionals undertaking these
examinations (UPPCC Governance Board, 2009). In 2012, in conjunction with
the UPPCC Board and researchers, procurement professionals were asked to complete
the job analysis study survey that addresses whether the certification examinations
are comprehensive and representative of the tasks and knowledge domains that they
are required to perform on a regular basis. The job analysis study provides the
descriptive information on the knowledge public procurement professionals regard as
necessary to function in their roles.
Public procurement professionals are confronted by competing demands such as
meeting fiscal benchmarks and efficiency as purchasing professionals, transparency
and compliance as government officials and ethical and social responsibilities as public
servants (Cooper et al., 2000;Erridge, 2002;Giuniperio and Dawn, 2000;Zorzini et al.,
2015). Furthermore, as the landscape for the field of procurement is being transformed
by the influence from globalization, internal organizational change and external
stakeholders’interests, procurement professionals must also evolve to meet these
changing demands (Faes et al., 2001;Macbeth, 1994). Procurement professionals are no
longer merely “purchasing agents”but managers of physical and intellectual assets
(Carr and Smeltzer, 2000;Hansen et al., 1999;Kaufmann et al., 2016). Scholars who
study procurement argue that professionals in this field must develop a well-rounded
set of abilities including business skills, interpersonal skills, technical skills,
transactional skills, strategic skills and ethical leadership skills (Guinipero et al., 2006;
Humphreys, 2001;Murphy, 1995;Prier et al., 2010).
Using the results of the job analysis survey, this research aims to address questions
surrounding the knowledge requirements to be a public procurement professional. Six
different components associated with being a procurement professional are explored with
the variety of specific knowledge elementsrelevant to the given component. This analysis is
accompanied by a series of questionsaddressing the holistic nature of these elements within
their given components. Therefore, two primary research questions are answered in this
study.
RQ1. What elements comprise the six primarycomponents of knowledge (procurement
administration, sourcing, negotiation process, contract administration, supply
management and strategic procurement planning) for public procurement
officials?
RQ2. Have the elements of knowledge presented in the UPPCC job analysis survey
enveloped the whole of knowledge domains perceived most important to public
procurement officials?
First, the existent literature addressing the knowledge contexts of the six different
components before analyzingthem against the various elements found within the survey are
analyzed. Using principal components analysis (PCA), those six components are examined
and the elements found to be important to the given componentare identified. Additionally,
a nonparametric test–One Sample Wilcoxon Sign Test –for difference is analyzed to assess
the sentiments of officials on the holistic nature of the survey for the domains. This study
concludes with a discussion of the importance to the profession and the training of current
and future public procurementprofessionals.
Acknowledging
knowledge
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