E-public procurement: Which factors determine its acceptance by small- to medium-sized enterprises and large companies in Belgium?

Abstract

The dematerialisation of public procurement (hereinafter, e-procurement) is one of the most innovative public management initiatives in Europe today. However, according to European statistics, the acceptance of this new public procurement technique by private companies remains very limited. Furthermore, despite the existence of an abundant literature dealing with the acceptance of technology, for example, in the field of e-commerce, very few studies have addressed the field of e-procurement. The aim of this article is to analyse the latter by making a distinction between the acceptance determinants of e-procurement by small- to medium-sized enterprises, on the one hand, and by large companies, on the other. Based on several theories on the acceptance of innovation in general, and on the acceptance of technology in particular – the Technology Acceptance Model, the Innovation Diffusion Theory and the model of Iacovou et al. – we developed a model and tested it on a sample of firms. The results of the survey, covering 695 small- to medium-sized enterprises and 126 large companies in Belgium, have enabled us to identify four main factors that can account for about 33.4% of the total variability in the acceptance of e-procurement by small- to medium-sized enterprises. In addition, we have identified two factors that could account for around 28.5% of the total variability of e-procurement acceptance by large firms. Points for practitioners Our study was able to account for about 33.4% of the total variability of e-procurement acceptance by small- to medium-sized enterprises and 28.5% by large companies. Identifying the determinants of this acceptance by distinguishing between small- to medium-sized enterprises and large companies can help decision-makers at the political and administrative level to develop a more effective action plan to promote the adoption of this new procurement technology, and thus to make the most of the benefits expected from it.