Public purchasing: who’s minding the store?
| Pages | 71-95 |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-01-01-2001-B002 |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| Author | Clifford P. McCue,Gerasimos A. Gianakis |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management,Government,Economics,Public Finance/economics,Texation/public revenue |
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, 71-95 2001
PUBLIC PURCHASING: WHO’S MINDING THE STORE?
Clifford P. McCue and Gerasimos A. Gianakis*
ABSTRACT. The public sector purchasing function continues to face growing
pressures to reform current purchasing processes. Yet, little is known about the
abilities of purchasing professionals to adapt to this rapidly chang ing
environment. This article identifies the critical job duties and work
responsibilities of government purchasing buyers and officers in an attempt to
determine if they currently posses the knowledge, skills, and abilities to
successfully adapt to increased pressures for reform.
INTRODUCTION
The environment of public sector purchasing has become more
complex then ever before. Purchasing is no longer considered a clerical
function performed independently by untrained individuals within a
governmental agency (Fearon, 1989, National Institute of Governmental
Purchasing, 1996). Today, purchasing agents confront rapidly emerging
technologies, increasing product diversity and choice, environmental
concerns, and the growing emphasis on quality and best value (not
simply lowest price) (National Association of State Procurement
Officials, 1997). Compounding the technical complexities they face,
purchasing agents are increasingly called upon to balance the dynamic
tension between competing socioeconomic objectives, provide a
consistence agency face to suppliers of goods and services, satisfy the
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* Cliff P. McCue, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor, School of Public
Administration, Florida Atlantic University. His teaching and research interests
are in public budgeting, public procurement, and governmental accounting.
Gerasimos A. Gianakis, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor, Department of Public
Management, Suffolk University. His teaching and research interests are in
public budgeting, finance, and local government organizations.
Copyright © 2001 by PrAcademics Press
PUBLIC PURCHASING: WHO’S MINDING THE STORE? 72
requirements of fairness, equity and transparency, and at the same time,
maintain an overarching focus on maximizing competition while
maintaining economy and efficiency. Within these competing and often
conflicting demands, purchasing organizations face declining resources,
higher demands for flexibility and responsiveness, and limited strategic
support within the organization (McCue & Pitzer, 2000).
The purchasing function has also been spotlighted by the reinvention
government forces as a target for reform (Gore, 1993). Reinvention calls
for the empowerment of service level managers to meet the needs of
citizens by granting them greater flexibility in the use of public resources
in exchange for holding them accountable for the achievement of service
objectives (Osborne & Gaebler, 1992; Osborne & Plastrik, 1997). Public
managers have traditionally been held accountable through controls on
their use of inputs to the service production process. This control is
exercised by legislative bodies and central management through
budgetary, accounting, personnel, and purchasing systems. The
reinvention movement holds that controls on the use of inputs – i.e., the
factors of production – constrain the ability of service managers to meet
service demands efficiently and effectively. Decentralizing the
purchasing function is beginning to receive some attention in
government (Gianakis & Wang, 2000; McCue & Pitzer, 2000; National
Institute of Governmental Purchasing, 1989).
Despite the increased turbulence in the purchasing environment and
the increasing calls for purchasing reform, the purchasing function has
not received a great deal of attention from researchers in public
administration, public finance, or public budgeting (MacManus, 1992).
Even in those few instances where the purchasing function is examined,
researchers have focused almost exclusively on the process components
of purchasing, irrespective of the potential impacts that alternative
procurement systems have on service delivery efficiency and
effectiveness. In order to understand and appreciate the changing nature
of the purchasing function in the near future, as well as, to evaluate the
abilities of purchasing professionals to adapt to this changing
environment, it is useful to identify and categorize the roles and
functional responsibilities of procurement professionals today (Center for
Advanced Purchasing Studies, 1999). Specifically, this article addresses
the following questions: What are the primary work activities of local
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