ELECTRONIC REVERSE AUCTIONS AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR: FACTORS OF SUCCESS
Subtitle: FACTORS OF SUCCESS
Publisher: PrAcademics Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Florida, USA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 452
Description: Electronic reverse auctions (e-RAs) provide purchasers with an opportunity for greater savings, transparency and administrative benefits.  This paper reviews the literature, identifying the factors relevant to public sector e-RA success, and then tests these factors through a statistical analysis of a large sample of e-RAs, with a view towards providing guidance to public sector purchasers looking to conduct e-RAs.  Our research found no correlation between e-RA success and the number of bidders or auction volume, but did find correlation between e-RA success and (1) competition among suppliers, (2) purchase complexity, and (3) purchase specification.  The number of bidders was found to be correlated with competition among suppliers, specification and complexity. Auction volume was found to be correlated with none of the factors.  We discuss the possible explanations for our results and draw conclusions for public sector procurement managers to consider when deciding whether to conduct an e-RA for a particular purchase.
Moshe E. Shalev, LLM, MBA, and Stee Asbjornsen, BA, LLB, are the Contracts Officer, and an Associate Procurement Officer, respectively, United Nations Secretariat Procurement Division, New York.
Table of contents: title: Part 1 I INTRODUCTION; title: Part 2 I  OVERVIEW; title: Chapter 1 I Electronic Reverse Auctions; title: Chapter 2 I The Advantages of e-RAs; title: Chapter 3 I The Disadvantages of e-RAs; title: Part 3 I LITERATURE REVIEW; title: Chapter 1 I Market Factors; title: Subchapter 1 I Number of Bidders; title: Subchapter 2 I Auction Volume; title: Subchapter 3 I Competition among Suppliers; title: Chapter 2 I Purchase Complexity and Specification; title: Subchapter 1 I Purchase Complexity; title: Subchapter 2 I Purchase Specification; title: Chapter 3 I Changing Suppliers; title: Subchapter 1 I Relationship with the Supplier; title: Subchapter 2 I Switching Costs; title: Subchapter 3 I Relevance to the Public Sector; title: Part 4 I RESEARCH; title: Chapter 1 I Research Methodology; title: Subchapter 1 I Success; title: Subchapter 2 I Number of Bidders; title: Subchapter 3 I Competition among Suppliers; title: Subchapter 4 I Complexity and Specification; title: Subchapter 5 I Auction Volume; title: Chapter 2 I Research Findings; title: Subchapter 1 I Success; title: Subchapter 2 I Number of Bidders; title: Subchapter 3 I Competition among Suppliers; title: Subchapter 4 I Specification; title: Subchapter 5 I Complexity; title: Subchapter 6 I Auction Volume; title: Part 5 I DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS; title: Subchapter 1 I Success; title: Subchapter 2 I Number of Bidders; title: Subchapter 3 I Competition among Suppliers; title: Subchapter 4 I Specification; title: Subchapter 5 I Complexity; title: Subchapter 6 I Auction Volume; title: Part 6 I CONCLUSIONS