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ABSTRACT. At all levels of government, inconsistencies exist regarding the terminology and the body of knowledge used to understand public procurement. Perspectives on what public procurement is, or should be, ranges from routine ordering to sophisticated analysis of government spending. Definitional ambiguities have hampered attempts to define the field and unify its focus. This exploratory article examines the implications of the muddled nature of public procurement that has led to debate and uncertainty about the proper role of public procurement practitioners. To address these limitations, three dimensions of all public procurement systems are identified, and a general definition is proposed for describing the field and its institutionalized practices.
INTRODUCTION
Is public procurement a profession? To a number of practitioners and academics, the question remains unanswered. There can be little doubt, however, by both practitioners and academics alike, that government is likely to be more effective if public procurement practitioners engage in their job activities based upon a common public procurement body of knowledge (PPBOK). As such, delineating the boundaries and institutionalized activities of public procurement is important because substantively defining what these employees do in their bureaus can substantially help government allocate public resources more effectively. Further, identifying a common term to both describe and prescribe what these individuals do, why they do it, and what additional benefits are derived from their doing their jobs professionally is necessary if they are to better articulate what value they add to governance.
This article seeks to define public procurement based upon an examination of the empirical practices of procurement practitioners and the environment within which they work. The structure of the current article is as follows. The first section offers a general definition of public procurement and explains why this definition is important for observers of this central aspect of policymaking. The second part offers a systems model of public procurement that conceptualizes three dimensions found in all procurement in the public space: the legal authority for action, the institutional and organizational environment in which practitioners operate, and the activities and actions that comprise the public procurement sphere. The third, fourth, and fifth segments of the article expand on these dimensions while the sixth section addresses materials management and surplus property. The seventh part discusses the...