Procurement maturity and IT failures in the public sector
Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy
ISSN: 1750-6166
Article publication date: 25 August 2022
Issue publication date: 18 October 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate disastrous failures in high-value, high-risk IT procurement among US public agencies. The goal is to understand the cause of the failures and explore the role of procurement in IT public investments.
Design/methodology/approach
The establishment of the maturity model is based on the relevant literature review and IT procurement failures at four different US public agencies. The data is gathered through multiple sources, including documents, archival records and interviews.
Findings
The findings add to the public procurement literature and highlight the catalyst role of procurement maturity in the success of IT public procurement. They also call for public agencies to grow procurement maturity and increase procurement impact throughout the procurement process.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed model was primarily based on four Information Technology (IT) procurement failures. Investigations on IT procurement successes and on a larger scale are necessary to further validate and expand the model.
Practical implications
The proposed model can help public agencies identify where they are in their IT procurement journey and formulate plans to reduce the likelihood of IT procurement failure.
Social implications
The proposed model helps public agencies achieve IT procurement success, which leads to timely policy implementation, huge federal savings and better use of taxpayer money.
Originality/value
This paper provides an effective framework for public agencies seeking to overcome high-value high-risk IT procurement challenges and achieve IT procurement success.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was partially funded by the Summer Research Grant at the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University in the Summer 2018.
Citation
Hua, S.Y. (2022), "Procurement maturity and IT failures in the public sector", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 554-566. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-07-2022-0097
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited