Procurement maturity and IT-alignment models: overview and a case study

More and more firms urge their procurement departments to optimize their processes and leverage IT in order to reduce costs, increase quality and sustainability of received products and services, and shorten delivery times. Already in the nineties of the previous century Henderson and Venkatraman (IBM Systems Journal 32(1):4–16, 1993) identified business/IT-alignment as a key to organizational performance. Many maturity and IT-alignment models have since been developed, yet, specific procurement maturity models, including business/IT-alignment principles, are scarce. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of procurement maturity models that include IT-alignment. We start with a presentation of business/IT-alignment principles, detailing dimensions (areas of concern) for alignment, specifically for the procurement domain. Subsequently, maturity principles are discussed, resulting in maturity levels for the procurement domain. Finally, an in depth study of a specialized procurement model for the construction industry is presented, in which simulation techniques for testing are successfully applied. The discussed models and application justify a business/IT-alignment approach for procurement departments.