بررسی اثرات تأمین الکترونیکی تجهیزات بر ساختار مرکز خرید

The purpose of this research is to analyse empirically how the use of Internet at the various stages of e-procurement impacts the organisational structure of the buying centre in terms of size and composition for a capital good. In this high-risk situation organisational buyers typically undertake extensive, deliberate choice processes involving numerous sequential phases. Interdepartmental coordination is required to specify, amongst others, the most suitable type of equipment in terms of capability, maintainability or costs. Information and communication technologies have changed the way we interact and communicate at different levels, amongst individuals within a single organisation as well as amongst different organisations (for example, with suppliers). A survey was performed using a questionnaire sent to a sample of industrial firms from different sectors. Results show that the size and composition of the buying centre varies at the different stages of the e-procurement process and that the use of Internet leads to an increase in the number of functional areas that intervene in the buying centre. The aims and implications for managers and researchers are discussed.

The Internet is present in the business strategy of practically every organisation. Of the many varied and wide-ranging applications of the Internet for management, our study focuses on its use in the procurement process (widely referred to as e-procurement). E-procurement is interpreted as the result of applying e-commerce technologies to an organisation's purchasing activities. This concept currently encompasses activities ranging from purchasing via electronic catalogues to participation in a wide array of on-line auctions and markets, all aimed at enhancing and automating as much as possible the chain of value ( Boer de et al., 2002, Essig and Arnold, 2001 and Puschmann and Alt, 2005). In addition to cutting costs (Boer de et al., 2002, Boyd and Spekman, 2001 and Wu et al., 2007), e-procurement has an effect in organisational terms, an issue which has thus far received less attention in the literature. Organisational aspects which have been explored are: processes and organisational structure (Boer de et al., 2002, Dewett and Jones, 2001 and Garrido et al., 2008), the boundaries of the firm – in terms of the degree of vertical integration and organisational changes – (Garrido, 2001), relationship development (Webster & Wind, 1972) and the structure of the buying centre (Boer de et al., 2002 and Osmonbekov et al., 2002). Our research also analyses the impact of Internet on the organisational structure of buying centres, or those who are involved in the purchase decision. Our main interest, however, focuses on the functional areas involved in industrial purchases, said purchases perceived as a process and not as an isolated act or mere transaction. In the process of industrial purchasing, a series of sequential and differentiated phases may be identified in which participants (in terms of size and composition) may vary depending on the nature and needs of each phase. For traditional purchasing behaviour in industry (or off-line), empirical research concurs in highlighting that the involvement of different functional areas – engineering, production, purchasing and general management – varies throughout the purchasing process phases (Bello and Lothia, 1993, Garrido and Gutiérrez, 1997, Johnston and Bonoma, 1981b, Lilien and Wong, 1984, McMillan, 1973 and Naumann et al., 1984). Yet, does the same happen when dealing with e-procurement? Information and communication technologies (ICT) have changed the way we interact and communicate at different levels, amongst individuals within a single organisation (for example through the use of intranets) and amongst different organisations (for example through extranets, websites or e-mail). For this reason, we feel that exploring the effect of Internet use on industrial purchases is important, both amongst members of the buying centre within the organisation as well as in terms of relations with suppliers. In short, our goal is to analyse empirically how the use of Internet at the various stages of e-procurement impacts the organisational structure of the buying centre in terms of size and composition (functional areas involved) for purchase of a capital good. We chose the purchase of a capital good since in this high-risk situation, organisational buyers typically undertake extensive, deliberate choice processes – rather than making a casual selection – to reduce decision risk (Hunter, Chickery, Celuch, & Curry, 2004). For this reason, in this kind of purchase we can identify various phases such as recognition of need, determining specifications, search for suppliers, assessing alternatives, and purchase. Yet, beyond merely exploring the impact of the use or non-use of Internet, it is no doubt interesting to assess the organisational effects of the level of Internet tool use. Does the intensity of Internet use at each stage of the purchasing process impact the number of functional areas involved? This present work also seeks to provide an answer to this question. The use of Internet at each phase of the purchasing process refers to the number of different Internet tools used. Webpages, extranets, discussion forums, e-mail and videoconferencing are the Internet applications we deal with in our study. This study has enabled us to progress along this particular line of research in which, as stated earlier, literature addressing the organisational consequences of Internet use in purchasing remains scarce. This is a key point since e-procurement impacts financial outcomes for those firms which make use of it, specifically in terms of an increase in efficiency in the purchasing process (Osmonbekov et al., 2002 and Wu et al., 2007). Our study also provides findings allowing us to establish differences between e-procurement and procurement which does not involve use of the Internet. This is possible thanks to the numerous studies exploring the structure of the buying centre in the latter case. The work is structured as follows. We first posit the research hypothesis, before moving on to deal with the methodology and outcomes to emerge from the empirical analysis. To conclude, we discuss the findings and implications for management and research.