E-public procurement: Which factors determine its acceptance by small- to medium-sized enterprises and large companies in Belgium?
| Author | Christian de Visscher,Mohamad Amin Alomar |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852317703466 |
| Published date | 01 June 2019 |
| Date | 01 June 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Review of
Administrative
Article
Sciences
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
E-public procurement: which
2019, Vol. 85(2) 356–376
! The Author(s) 2017
factors determine its acceptance
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by small- to medium-sized
DOI: 10.1177/0020852317703466
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enterprises and large companies
in Belgium?
Mohamad Amin Alomar
Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Christian de Visscher
Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Abstract
The dematerialisation of public procurement (hereinafter, e-procurement) is one of the
most innovative public management initiatives in Europe today. However, according to
European statistics, the acceptance of this new public procurement technique by private
companies remains very limited. Furthermore, despite the existence of an abundant
literature dealing with the acceptance of technology, for example, in the field of
e-commerce, very few studies have addressed the field of e-procurement. The aim of
this article is to analyse the latter by making a distinction between the acceptance
determinants of e-procurement by small- to medium-sized enterprises, on the one
hand, and by large companies, on the other. Based on several theories on the accept-
ance of innovation in general, and on the acceptance of technology in particular – the
Technology Acceptance Model, the Innovation Diffusion Theory and the model of
Iacovou et al. – we developed a model and tested it on a sample of firms. The results
of the survey, covering 695 small- to medium-sized enterprises and 126 large companies
in Belgium, have enabled us to identify four main factors that can account for about
33.4% of the total variability in the acceptance of e-procurement by small- to medium-
sized enterprises. In addition, we have identified two factors that could account for
around 28.5% of the total variability of e-procurement acceptance by large firms.
Points for practitioners
Our study was able to account for about 33.4% of the total variability of e-procurement
acceptance by small- to medium-sized enterprises and 28.5% by large companies.
Corresponding author:
Mohamad Amin Alomar, Universite´ Catholique de Louvain, Place montesquieu 1 – bte L2.08.07, Louvain la
Neuve, 1348, Belgium.
Email: mohamad-amin.alomar@uclouvain.be
Alomar and de Visscher
357
Identifying the determinants of this acceptance by distinguishing between small- to
medium-sized enterprises and large companies can help decision-makers at the political
and administrative level to develop a more effective action plan to promote the adop-
tion of this new procurement technology, and thus to make the most of the benefits
expected from it.
Keywords
acceptance of technology, Belgium, e-procurement, large companies, small- to medium-
sized enterprises
Introduction
E-procurement refers to the use of electronic means during the public procurement
process. The expected benefits of the transition to e-procurement are considerable.
According to the European Commission, the adoption of this technology can
reduce expenditure on public procurement by 5–20% (European Commission,
2012). In addition, e-procurement makes it possible to increase the dissemination
of tenders, improve the transparency of procedures, protect the environment and
combat corruption. This transition is therefore strongly encouraged by the
European Union. Following the publication of the European e-procurement
action plan in 2004 (European Commission, 2004) and the 2005 Manchester
Ministerial Declaration, member states were encouraged to take up the challenge
of fully digitising the procurement process by 2010 at the latest.
As far as Belgium is concerned, the Federal Public Service Personnel and
Organisation (FPS P&O) has been developing a number of e-procurement appli-
cations since 2005, enabling public purchasers and companies to digitise public
procurement procedures. The regulations have been adapted to speed up the adop-
tion of e-procurement: e-notification has become obligatory for all contracting
authorities since January 2011. All the services of the federal authority have also
been obliged to authorise electronic tenders since 1 January 2013. E-tendering is
already mandatory in Flanders for public purchasers and for companies. These
efforts have seen e-procurement make steady inroads over the past few years.
However, Belgium is lagging behind both in terms of its own objectives and in
relation to other European countries. Data from the OECD (2015) confirm that
less than 20% of Belgian businesses use e-procurement systems to access tender
documents and specifications and only about 10 % of them use e-procurement to
submit their tenders to public authorities (OECD, 2015).
Our contribution is therefore aimed at identifying factors that can determine the
acceptance of e-procurement by companies while making a distinction between
small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies. We understand
‘acceptance of e-procurement’ to mean the extent to which companies are
358
International Review of Administrative Sciences 85(2)
favourable or unfavourable to the adoption of electronic means to carry out public
procurement procedures. After presenting the theoretical foundations of the study,
we go on to explain the research model developed to identify the factors that can
influence the acceptance of e-procurement by SMEs, on the one hand, and by large
companies, on the other. This model is then tested using the survey method.
Theoretical foundations
The transition to e-procurement is seen as an innovative initiative that is a priority
for the public sector in Europe (European Commission, 2013). In order to examine
the acceptance of this innovative technique, we draw on the literature on the
acceptance and adoption of innovation in general and on the acceptance of tech-
nology in particular. An in-depth analysis of this literature has allowed us to iden-
tify several widely accepted theories – the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT)
(Rogers, 1983), the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) the
model of Iacovou et al. (1995) – which are relevant for testing in the field of e-
procurement acceptance.
The IDT
The IDT was first proposed by Everett Rogers in 1962. This theory provides a
conceptual and analytical framework for studying the acceptability of innovations
and explains their evolution from the invention stage to that of extended use.
According to Rogers (1995: 206), the rate of adoption of innovation is ‘the relative
speed with which an innovation is adopted by members of a social system’.
This adoption rate is influenced, on the one hand, by the characteristics of the
innovation, which include, in particular, relative advantages, compatibility, com-
plexity, observability and testability, and, on the other hand, by the characteristics
of the organisation, such as size, formalisation and centralisation.
The TAM
In 1986, Fred Davis proposed the original TAM. According to the author, the
acceptance of a particular computer system can be explained by the users’ motiv-
ation to adopt it, which, in turn, is influenced by external factors, including the
characteristics of that system.
Based on several previous research studies in this field, notably, on the theories
of the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Davis
formulated the TAM. According to this model, three main factors can explain the
motivation of the user, namely:
Perceived usefulness: ‘The degree to which a person believes that using a particular
system would enhance his or her job performance’ (Davis, 1989: 320).
Alomar and de Visscher
359
Perceived ease of use: ‘The degree to which a person believes that using a particular
system would be free from effort’ (Davis, 1989: 320).
The attitude towards the use of the system: ‘Individual’s positive or negative feel-
ings about performing the target behavior’ (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975: 216).
The attitude, which is the most important determinant of use, is directly influ-
enced by perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. These latter two factors
are, in turn, directly influenced by external variables containing the characteristics
of the system (x1, x2, x3).
The model of Iacovou et al. (1995)
On the basis of the IDT, Iacovou, Benbasat and Dexter (1995) developed a model
to explain the adoption of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in small organisa-
tions. Their model consists of three groups of variables:
Perceived benefits: these relate to the level of recognition of the relative benefits
that the innovation can provide to the organisation. According to the authors,
this factor has been regularly identified as one of the most critical factors for the
adoption and development of information technology in small businesses.
Organisational preparation: this refers to the organisational context, in particular,
to the availability of the company’s financial and technological resources.
External pressure: this refers to the organisational environment and is generally
taken into account in the Technology, Organisation, Environment model pro-
posed by Tornatzky and Fleischer (1990). Iacovou et al. specifically address
competitive pressure and pressure from trading partners. The first factor
refers to the competitive advantage of using EDI in the relevant industry field
to force the company to adopt it. The second focuses on the pressure exerted by
the major trading partners on the company to adopt the EDI, for example,
when car manufacturers...
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