Title: Utilising multicriteria decision making for rewarding participants in collaborative e-procurement

Authors: Dimitra Voulgaridou, Vrassidas Leopoulos, Konstantinos Kirytopoulos

Addresses: Mechanical Engineer Department, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechniou 9, 15780, Greece. ' Mechanical Engineer Department, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechniou 9, 15780, Greece. ' Financial and Management Engineering Department, University of the Aegean, Fostini 31, 82100, Chios, Greece

Abstract: The technological advancements of the new network economy are changing the marketplace and impelling changes in strategic alliances and partnership structures within the e-supply chain (e-SC). E-SC managers need to consider multiple performance characteristics and trade-offs between conflicting tangible and intangible factors in order to evaluate participants. In this context, the authors present a comprehensive methodology for evaluating and rewarding participants in the parapharmaceutical e-SC. The paper consists of three parts. The first one provides a review concerning the criteria and the methods used for partners| evaluation and proposes a framework for selecting the most appropriate decision making approach. The second describes the parapharmaceutical e-procurement processes in Greece, while the third proposes an ANP-based methodology for partners| evaluation. The criteria, which influence the final decision, are presented and the results indicate that the development of a learning climate and the advanced collaboration among partners dominate the decision making process.

Keywords: collaborative e-procurement; collaboration; decision analysis; strategic alliances; analytic network process; ANP; partner evaluation; reward projects; multicriteria decision making; MCDM; procurement management; electronic procurement; online procurement; supply chain management; SCM; parapharmaceutical supply chains; pharmaceutical supply chains; Greece; learning; partner rewards.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPM.2011.040373

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2011 Vol.4 No.3, pp.323 - 339

Published online: 31 Jan 2015 *

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