پذیرندگان و غیر پذیرندگان تأمین الکترونیکی تجهیزات در سنگاپور: یک مطالعه تجربی

This study examines various factors associated with the adoption of e-procurement. A survey questionnaire was administered to collect data from 141 companies in Singapore. Using logistic regression analysis, we found that firm size, top management support, perceived indirect benefits, and business partner influence are positively and significantly associated with the adoption of e-procurement. Further, industry type does not show any relationship with e-procurement adoption. Implications of our results are discussed.

Electronic procurement (e-procurement) has, in recent years, been used as a means to significantly reduce costs, as it enables volume purchases, allows wider choice of buyers and suppliers, brings about better quality, improves delivery, reduces paperwork, and lowers administrative costs [1] and [2]. In its most basic definition, e-procurement is the streamlining of corporate purchasing processes by eliminating traditional paper-based documents such as purchase orders and requisitions forms. Through an e-procurement system, employees can gain direct access to their suppliers’ systems to visually confirm technical specifications and to view product pictures, price points, and detailed product descriptions. The system can also create electronic requisitions for approval, route them through the company's approval process and submit purchase orders electronically to contracted suppliers. Given the potential benefits of the Internet and other web-related technologies to revolutionize the procurement process, numerous companies worldwide have already adopted e-procurement in an attempt to leverage this technological infrastructure. In an ISM/Forrester Research Report (2001–2003), seven out of ten firms in the US market were reported to have engaged in online procurement of strategic items and critical services (namely those products and services that are closely linked to the firm's production or service delivery). Survey data from the report also show that organizations have experienced between 11% and 12% business growth due to the adoption of e-procurement tools, and 35% of the survey respondents reported cost reductions after adopting e-procurement. As an example, General Electric estimates that the company has saved more than US$10 billion annually through its e-procurement activities [3]. Several studies have also been conducted to examine how the implementation of e-procurement benefits organizations [4], [5] and [6]. However, some studies have highlighted the risks involved in e-procurement [7] and [8] as well as the failure of several electronic markets [9]. There are also some evidences reporting the failures in e-procurement [10]. Consequently, it is important to examine the various factors associated with the adoption of e-procurement in organizations. In a similar vein, research has examined the adoption of information systems (IS) such as electronic data interchange (EDI) [11], [12] and [13], enterprise resource planning (ERP) [14] and [15], e-commerce, and e-business [16], [17] and [18]. Although several studies have identified factors conducive to the adoption of IS, relatively few attempts have been made to examine whether these factors are associated with organizational adoption of web-based e-procurement (rather than proprietary EDI). Consequently, organizations may find it difficult to determine whether the factors associated with the adoption of e-procurement would be similar to those for the adoption of EDI or other information technology (IT) applications. Understanding the key factors associated with e-procurement adoption is important so that firms adopting or intending to adopt e-procurement, vendors of e-procurement software, industry groups, and government bodies could take appropriate actions to reinforce the factors if they intend to promote the adoption of e-procurement. The main objective of this paper is to examine the adoption of e-procurement in Singapore. Specifically, we examine the following research question: What are the key factors (technological, organizational, and environmental) associated with the adoption of e-procurement? In answering the above research question, this study attempts to bridge several gaps in the literature on e-procurement and the adoption of IS. First, by comparing between adopters and non-adopters, we provide a useful reference on organizational characteristics related to the adoption of e-procurement. In other words, we compare the demographic profile and management support between adopters and non-adopters and provide insights on their organizational characteristics. Second, by examining the relative importance of various factors (technological, organizational and environmental) on the adoption of e-procurement, this study advances knowledge on the contingency factors that could potentially affect the adoption of e-procurement in organizations. Third, while various factors have been examined in prior research on topics related to the adoption of EDI and IS innovation, we empirically test the impact of these factors in a new and different context relating to the adoption of e-procurement. Testing in a different context would help us evaluate the consistency of the impact of various factors on the adoption of IS innovation and consequently aid in empirical generalizations [19]. Fourth, most extant studies on e-procurement are confined to Western countries with a serious lack of Asian focus, given the growing importance of the region as a global procurement base. By examining e-procurement in Singapore (a country in Asia), this study fulfils this gap and also provides some insights as to whether findings applicable to western countries are also relevant in this country. Singapore is an ideal place to conduct this study as it has an excellent technological infrastructure and a government in favor of developing IT. Fifth, previous research has provided some evidence that research findings in western countries and Asia could differ. For example, in a study comparing supply chain management between the US and Taiwan, Chow et al. [20] found that while supply chain competencies have positive effects on organizational performance for both countries, the relationship between supply chain practices and concerns may differ. Hence, it is reasonable to expect that some factors associated with e-procurement may be more salient in Asia compared to other western countries. Without empirical testing, it may be difficult to identify which factors concerning the adoption of e-procurement should receive more management attention in Asia. This paper is organized as follows. First, a literature review of previous studies pertaining to e-procurement is presented. Second, the proposed research model and hypotheses are presented, followed by the methodology used for data collection, and the analyses of the study results. The paper concludes with a discussion of the key findings, limitations, and implications for researchers and practitioners.

The results from this study provide organizations with a better understanding of factors associated with the adoption of e-procurement, which will be useful reference for them to develop appropriate e-procurement strategies. Specifically, the key factors in order of importance are perceived indirect benefits, firm size, business partner influence, and top management support. It appears that firms may be generally aware of the direct benefits (this explains why there is no difference between adopters and non-adopters). Hence, adopter firms tend to emphasize indirect benefits possibly due to their focus on indirect long term benefits rather than direct short term gains. In general, large organizations have more resources and greater need for e-procurement as compared to smaller organizations. Consequently, larger firms stand a higher chance to adopt e-procurement. The results also indicate that business partner influence plays a significant role in e-procurement adoption. Hence, organizations (especially the larger ones) that have adopted the technology can potentially request the technological adoption by their business partners. Top management of firms should realize that the basic function of e-procurement is to streamline the procurement process for more effective communication and procurement efficiency. Knowledge of what e-procurement encompasses should be useful before determining the adoption. Top management commitment and support is essential for e-procurement adoption. Organizations should also understand that the use of e-procurement is increasingly widespread in the global business world. This is evident in our finding that industry type has no relationship with e-procurement adoption. In order to stay competitive, it may be inevitable that non-adopters take part in e-procurement to avoid losing their customers and businesses. Decision makers have to understand and evaluate what their businesses require before planning and implementing the e-procurement system. This study is also useful for proponents of e-procurement, especially software vendors. Vendors are provided with an insight into the factors that are significantly associated with e-procurement adoption. Equipped with this information, vendors can thus devise more effective and efficient promotion strategies for their e-procurement software. For example, software vendor can focus their attention on convincing top management about the benefits of e-procurement and leverage the influence of business partners to accelerate the adoption. Vendors should realize that although larger firms appear more receptive to e-procurement, small and medium sized firms also represent a significant potential market. By convincing larger firms to adopt e-procurement, small and medium sized firms who are business partners with larger firms may be encouraged to adopt e-procurement. By understanding the factors associated with the adoption of e-procurement, government policy makers could design appropriate measures to encourage the adoption of e-procurement. For example, government could provide financial support or tax rebates to firms in order to promote the benefits of adopting e-procurement and its diffusion. Governments could also play a lead role in adopting e-procurement which in turn can influence their business partners towards adopting e-procurement. In summary, this study contributes to the existing literature by providing valuable insights into e-procurement by comparing the organizational characteristics of adopters and non-adopters as well as characteristics of their e-procurement activities. Although the results show that adopter firms were larger and had better top management support than non-adopter firms, there was no significant difference in the adoption in terms of industry types. This indicates that e-procurement is applicable to a wide range of industries. In addition, the results show that the key factors associated with organizational adoption of e-procurement include perceived indirect benefits, firm size, top management support, and business partner influence. These results also provide useful references on the relative importance of various factors associated with the adoption of e-procurement. The lack of support for direct benefits and the support for indirect benefits warrants further research. Conceivably, e-procurement has increasingly become an essential part of the firms’ procurement activities and firms are realizing the importance of indirect benefits as direct benefits may be difficult to quantify and need longer time to take effect. In a similar vein, the lack of relationship of information sharing culture with the adoption of e-procurement would need further research attention. Interestingly, the lack of relationship of perceived costs with e-procurement adoption could suggest that firms are generally aware of the benefits of e-procurement. Specifically, Web-based e-procurement entails significantly lower costs than proprietary EDI systems. The results of supplementary data analysis, by modeling the adoption in terms of usage of e-procurement as a continuous variable, indicate that the significant factors associated with the adoption may be different from those associated with its usage. Previous research tends to operationalize adoption either as a dichotomous variable or as a continuous variable, rather than examining them together (with the exception of Thong [36] who examined adoption and extent of adoption in the context of IS adoption in small businesses). Hence, this study contributes to the literature in this line of research by comparing the factors associated with both the adoption and the extent of usage of e-procurement. It also validates Thong's findings that factors affecting adoption and extent of adoption may be different. Future studies can also examine other factors, e.g., cultural and institutional, associated with e-procurement adoption.