Title: E-procurement adoption process: an arduous journey for an Australian city council

Authors: Md. Mahbubur Rahim, Sharif N. As-Saber

Addresses: Caulfield School of Information Technology, Monash University, VIC3145, Australia. ' School of Management, RMIT University, VIC3000, Australia

Abstract: Unlike the private sector for which the adoption of e-procurement systems has widely been discussed, little is known about the motivations behind government agencies| introduction of e-procurement systems and the challenges they encounter in implementing them. This research addresses this gap through an exploratory case study involving a Melbourne-based city council. The findings indicate the reluctance of the council in fully committing to e-procurement system while being not entirely motivated by financial gains. A major hurdle is the difficulty to integrate e-procurement to the council|s financial applications. The study has implications for public sector financial managers and IT practitioners.

Keywords: e-procurement; e-finance; local government; city councils; challenges; motivations; adoption; case study; Australia; electronic procurement; online procurement; electronic finance; government agencies; public sector; financial management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEF.2011.040458

International Journal of Electronic Finance, 2011 Vol.5 No.2, pp.150 - 168

Published online: 30 May 2011 *

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