E-Procurement: Current Issues & Future Challenges

E-procurement has been identified as an area of B2B e-commerce where IS-enabled transformations of business processes and practices are likely to yield significant benefits. In this paper we present the findings from a recent survey of e-procurement in Australia. The survey is designed around the OECD model of e-business adoption and provides a picture of the readiness, intensity and impact of e-procurement in Australian organisations. The survey findings indicate that e-procurement has transitioned from a largely operational concern and now takes a more strategic position in organisations. E-procurement implementations have increased in both reach and scope, with more organisations implementing systems that span the whole enterprise, encompassing a greater range of procurement functions and activities. However, whilst progress has been made a number of challenges still remain. None of the respondents who had implemented e-procurement reported major or significant benefits. Moderate benefits were realised with respect to improved supply chain integration, reduced employee overhead and improved supplier sourcing. In this paper we present the findings of the 2006 Australian National e-Procurement Survey. We discuss the findings and their relation to previous surveys and studies and outline implications for future research on IS-enabled innovations in procurement.