Benefits of E-Procurement Systems Implementation

Abstract

E-procurement systems are widely discussed in the eBusiness literature in which it is claimed that businesses generally experience three types of benefits (e.g. operational, tactical, and strategic) from implementing these systems. However, limited studies have so far been reported in the e-government literature on the benefits e-procurement systems have provided for the Australian municipality context. This chapter thus reviews the existing literature and reports e-procurement benefits experience of a large Australian municipal council. The findings indicate that the council's experience is limited to the attainment of operational and tactical benefits, and no evidence has been found about gaining any strategic benefits. In addition, several factors are identified that influenced those benefits. The lessons learned from the experience of the council are discussed and contributions made to the e-procurement literature for the public government context are highlighted.