Current Trends and Challenges in Electronic Procurement: An Empirical Study

The following paper presents results from a longitudinal study on the use of ICT for B2B-related business processes in large Swiss companies. In an empirical survey, 68 questionnaires were personally collected from procurement heads and subsequently analysed. The findings show that reduction of purchase prices is the top priority when goal-setting in procurement. Electronic orders and invoices are the business documents that are most often exchanged electronically between partners. Electronic exchange of invoices (e-invoicing) is a current key topic for over 70 % of the companies. Procurement heads sense a lack of supplier involvement which makes the realisation of balanced B2B solution scenarios difficult. The study shows that IT, without doubt, plays a significant role in everyday procurement, but that the expectations of IT are rarely completely fulfilled.