David McKevitt

Developments: Coping with Ambiguity: Reconciling External Legitimacy and Organizational Implementation in Performance Measurement

This article reports the results of a study of the implementation of performance measurement in 74 UK public sector organizations. Performance measurement is often imposed on organizations by external stakeholders and those charged with implementation have to reconcile the demands of competing interests. These interests reflect the complex relations that ‘street-level’ public organizations engage in. The authors use institutional theory to make sense of how these relations, and the competing demands of performance measurement, are managed.

The impact of size on small and medium-sized enterprise public sector tendering

This article examines the relationship between firm size and public sector tendering. The findings show that size, measured by employee number, significantly influences small and medium sized enterprises’ (SMEs) tendering resources, behaviour and success; as such, micro-enterprises are resource-disadvantaged, tender less often and have lower success rates compared to small and medium-sized firms. These findings indicate that SMEs are heterogeneous tenderers, and point to the need for more focused research on how SME characteristics influence ability and willingness to tender.

Microenterprises: how they interact with public procurement processes

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore how micro‐enterprises interact with public procurement systems. The paper seeks to give public procurement managers a better understanding of how micro‐enterprises approach the procurement process.Design/methodology/approach – The sample consists of microenterprises competing for public procurement contracts in Ireland. The data are firstly submitted to principal component analysis to identify a set of factors that represent the public procurement process. This is later used to create four distinct clusters which describe how suppliers interact with the process.Findings – A typology of four interaction patterns is generated from the data. This shows that small firms weight the three phases of the procurement process differently. The data support and extend the argument that small firms are not a homogeneous group and illustrate that small firms use divergent strategies when competing for procurement contracts.Research limitations/implications – The practical i...

The legitimacy of entrepreneurial mentoring

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present findings from longitudinal case studies of small firm mentoring relationships in Ireland. The rationale is to explore the gaps between the theory and practice of small firm mentoring. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a comparative case study design involving interviews, observation and secondary sources of evidence including business plans. Findings – In contrast to the literature the paper extends the role of mentors in the small firm context as offering direct and indirect support, which reduces uncertainty in order to increase legitimacy of the business entity. Research limitations/implications – The cases highlight a conflict between the broad theoretical scope of the mentor process vs a narrow role assumed by best practice. Practical implications – The research presents an opportunity to enhance the pragmatic vs paternalistic perspective of small firm mentoring. The authors argue that for mentoring theory to be useful then a mentor’s role-...

Public buying decisions: a framework for buyers and small firms

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore the factors that influence buyer decision-making in public procurement. The objective is to better understand the processes and conditions that support different supply arrangements, which maximise SME participation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses case study evidence of contract awards across multiple organisational contexts including: a local authority, commercial semi-state, police force, and a tourist agency. Findings – National policy and the role of procurement exerted mixed effects upon the cases. The procurement processes were broadly similar and included cross-functional teams, consideration of trade-offs and market research. Research limitations/implications – The paper highlights the transition of public organisations toward strategic procurement including supplier engagement. Practical implications – This offers buyers a decision support tool that promotes equal opportunities for SME participation, a key goal of EU procurement. The imp...

How to interact, when and with whom? SMEs and public procurement

Research consistently shows that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) struggle with public procurement processes. The aim of this paper is to extend the research agenda using the lens of supplier development. Dyadic mentoring theory is used to classify three role sets that buyers are willing to use in order to develop small firms. This papers findings distinguish budget holders from traditional buyers in terms of how and what processes they are willing to use to develop SMEs. Role theory is used in the paper to explain the different mentor behaviours.

An exploration of management competencies in public sector procurement

There is currently much debate about the meaning of competency and its importance to professionalization. This article explores the personal meaning and importance of competency from the perspective of public buyers and managers in Ireland and the UK. Using an in-depth mixed method research design, we propose a typology of public procurement competency and discuss the implications of the framework for professionalization of public procurement.

Debate: Value for money—in search of a definition

Defining and measuring effectiveness at the organizational level is complex. At the very least, there is conflict over competing organizational objectives, the impact of programmes and projects and also the linkages between them. Specific approaches are used to capture effectiveness including goal-based, resource-based and internal efficiency perspectives (Daft, 2006; Jones, 2010). In public management, value for money (VfM) is an umbrella concept that attempts to capture all three dimensions of effectiveness simultaneously. This article argues that VfM is an elastic term with a confused meaning. Is it these very characteristics that explain its perseverance and legitimacy as a global measure of public effectiveness? Given the absence of a commonly-understood global definition, this article identifies and discusses four specific problems with VfM.

Value for money: a broken piñata?

In public management a key driver of effectiveness is value for money (VfM). This paper argues that the VfM concept suffers from conceptual ambiguity, and thus ethical implications arise when VfM is used to legitimize public buying decisions. A conceptual framework, which clarifies properties and boundaries of VfM, is proposed. Empirical data collected from public employees involved in public procurement in Ireland and a perceptual map of subjective meaning and impact of VfM are discussed. While the conceptual framework is broadly supported, it highlights different interpretations of VfM and distinguishes those employees who dent the VfM piñata from those who break it. The implications of the research in this paper include a need for more debate concerning the usefulness of the VfM concept.

Supplier development and public procurement: allies, coaches and bedfellows

Purpose – Using the lens of mentoring theory the authors test the extent to which public buyers informally support suppliers and the influence of organisational context on mentoring support. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Principal component analysis was used to analyse questionnaire responses from over 300 public buyers in Ireland. Cluster analysis produced three mentor profiles. Findings – The findings show a positive relationship between organisations that take a strategic approach to suppliers and buyers who offer career and psychosocial support to suppliers. However, those organisations that lack a strategic perspective of suppliers saw buyers offer political support and coaching. Research limitations/implications – The implications are that coaching and political support may compensate for deficits in organisational support for suppliers generally. The findings contribute to a growing literature on informal interaction opportunities in public procurement. Origi...