Townsend, Robert (2018) An examination of the relationship between Australian Council e-Tender spend and executive strategy: an institutional approach. Other Degree thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

This DBA Dissertation reports on the barriers preventing a relationship between Australian council e-Tender monetary spend and executive strategy, developed from seven Australian mid-range councils across three states. Every year councils spend billions of dollars on procurement of goods, services, works and information to fund community facilities. Electronic Tender (e-Tender), as a determined sub-set of e-Procurement, is an important acquisition activity. The significance of e-Tender through a tender management portal (TMP) was the initial focus of this research project, a subject not examined in previous research. Through the data collection phase the focus changed to the value of the e-Tender monetary spend. The existing research proposes council’s measure e-Procurement (not specifically e-Tender) expenditure and the arguments for this position are explored through their practice dimensions. The practice leads to theories and the perspective exposes the tension between strategic mimicry and acquiescence responses to institutional logics and variant economics which were found to legitimise and entrench practice barriers. The pervasiveness of council procurement is tied to the themes extracted from the case studies showing pressures between the council procurement structure, regulatory compliance, operational effectiveness and shared services or aggregators as practitioners of collaboration. Qualitative methods of interviews and case studies coupled with a back-and-forth abductive process of systematic combining through pragmatic lens enabled development of an own agenda serendipitous research methodology. This strategy responds to calls for reflective learning facets of case studies to advance research in the Purchasing and Supply Management field. This research project will increase the understanding of the dynamic and evolving nature of council e-Tender through a TMP and the value of tender spend as an inclusion in executive strategy, thereby commencing a conversation on council tender epistemology, research avenues yet unexplored. This DBA Dissertation makes a contribution to knowledge in the field of Australian middle range councils through the empirical research and the ensuing development of a tender spend/income ratio as a performance indicator. What was striking is the financial volume of tender spend not recognised across council: although not explicitly stated, acquiescence guides council reasoning for non-inclusion of this essential management data within executive strategy. This research is a contribution to the growing importance of understanding the digitalisation of practice and the impact on all stakeholders.

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