Public procurement specialists: They are not who we thought they were
| Pages | 38-65 |
| Date | 01 March 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-15-01-2015-B002 |
| Published date | 01 March 2015 |
| Author | Alexandru V. Roman |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management,Government,Economics,Public Finance/economics,Texation/public revenue |
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT, VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1, 38-65 SPRING 2015
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT SPECIALISTS: THEY ARE NOT WHO WE
THOUGHT THEY WERE
Alexandru V. Roman*
ABSTRACT. Recently there has been an impressive growth in the scholarly
literature on public procurement. The study of the administrative roles
assumed by public procurement specialists is, however, one area that
remains largely underexplored. Somewhat curiously, the professionals
making a career in the field are often an afterthought when it comes to
empirical research. Outside of anecdotal accounts, there is little that is
known in terms of the roles that procurement specialists assume on daily
basis. In t his respect, there is an important knowledge gap within the field’s
body of literature. This article attempts to address this knowledge gap
through an exploratory empirical evaluation of the administrative behaviors
of public procurement specialists.
INTRODUCTION
There is a growing recognition among scholars that in an age in
which governance is being defined by contractual relationships and
networks, public procurement is becoming an increasingly central
aspect of public administration. In the past two decades much has
been written about public procurement and its effects on economic
and social patterns. Research in the field has developed dramatically
both in terms of its quality and its quantity (Thai & Piga, 2007).
Indeed, students of public procurement have examined an array of
critical questions and topics, ranging from requisition practices to e-
procurement and the internationalization of the field. Yet, there is one
facet of public procurement that, for perhaps curious reasons,
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* Alexandru V. Roman, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Public
Administration at California State Univ ersity at San Bernardino. His research
interests include public management, leadership, public procurement and
public corruption.
Copyright © 2015 by PrAcademics Press
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT SPECIALISTS: THEY ARE NOT WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE 39
remains largely underexplored – that of the roles assumed by public
procurement specialists. Paradoxically, the individuals who lie at the
very core of the process and who play a fundamental part in shaping
the practice, receive only a meager amount of scholarly
consideration. Within this context, there is a significant gap within the
body of scholarly literature that has yet to be adequately addressed.
There are several forces at work behind this remarkable lack of
scholarly attention. First, many, perhaps justifiably so, find little
academic glamor in studying public procurement specialists. Unlike
legislators, city managers or organizational elites, it is believed that
public procurement specialists have little to offer in terms of exciting
research findings or consequential generalizable results. Second,
there is perhaps an inherent danger in revealing that procurement
specialists might not behave exactly in the manner they are typically
depicted by anecdotal accounts. There are a number of important
consequences that would come with the realization that specialists
might routinely deviate from being mere “enforcers of procurement
ordinances.” Many of these nonconformities would raise conceptual
and ethical questions that we might not yet be ready to tackle.
Possibly due to the latter, some scholars simply prefer to steer clear
of such complexity. Finally, the fragmented nature of public
procurement as a field makes the study of procurement specialists
rather challenging. The profession is still in its early stages of
evolution and there isn’t yet a consensus regarding major definitions,
concepts or development paths (Thai, 2001).
The above mentioned reasons do not, however, justify leaving the
existent knowledge gap unaddressed. There is much to be gained
from a rigorous and systematic inquiry into the roles assumed by
procurement specialists. Constructing working understandings about
the routine decision-making and behaviors of public procurement
specialists is important for manifold reasons. First, and foremost,
their roles have changed significantly in the last two decades. It is
now common for procurement specialists to assume responsibilities
that in the past have been legislatively set outside of the realm of
their decision-making. Second, currently public procurement
specialists face administrative tasks and policy issues that are
significantly more complex than in the past. Of specific interest in this
case is the role played by procurement specialists in managing and
evaluating the performance of contractual agreements for the
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