Title: Type of procurement and operational performance: comparing e-procurement and offline purchasing

Authors: T. Ramayah, Matthew H. Roy, Koh Bee Li, Muhamad Jantan, Imad Zbib, Zafar U. Ahmed

Addresses: School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. ' University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road, Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA. ' School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. ' Center for Policy Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. ' American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. ' Texas A&M University at Commerce, Commerce, Texas, USA

Abstract: Advanced technology has paved the path for improving overall performance in supply chain management, and has turned the latter into a competitive advantage for many companies. This study explores electronic procurement and its relationship with operational performance. Data was collected by means of questionnaires distributed to active vendors and end users in Company X. The results reveal that operational performance differs with the type of procurement: e-procurement vendors have better operational performance compared to those practicing traditional purchasing. However, the relationship between type of procurement and operational performance is moderated by business volume, vendor region, extent of trust and cooperation, whereas product type did not hold a significant moderator effect. Accordingly, managers should adopt e-procurement in their respective organisations to improve operational performance in supply chain management.

Keywords: procurement types; supply chain management; SCM; operational performance; electronic procurement; e-procurement; electronic data interchange; EDI; offline procurement; suppliers; purchase-to-order processes; moderating effect; Malaysia; online procurement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2007.013093

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2007 Vol.3 No.3, pp.279 - 296

Published online: 07 Apr 2007 *

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