Capability hierarchy in electronic procurement and procurement process performance: An empirical analysis

摘要

The procurement function is identified as a key focus area for contemporary firms to remain cost-effective and competitive. The article attempts to examine capabilities, especially organizational capability that facilitates performance enhancements in procurement processes. Organizational capability is defined as an organization's ability to perform repeatedly and reliably a task which is related to its capacity for creating value. These capabilities are pertinent at different levels. The article focuses on how firms create, deploy and leverage capabilities at various levels that are interrelated and work in conjunction with each other, especially in process performance. The setting for the research is electronic procurement. It is proposed that there are hierarchies among organizational procurement capabilities wherein higher-level capabilities enable the creation and use of lower-level capabilities in a related, technology-enabled context. Some of the key higher-level capabilities such as procurement integration competence, which enables the creation and use of a lower-level capability, digital procurement competence is identified. The lower-level capability is technology-enabled, closer to the actual procurement activities performed, and impacts performance directly. The model developed is estimated on the basis of data obtained from a large-scale survey of 412 manufacturing firms in the context of production goods procurement.