E-procurement adoption: A case study about the role of two Italian advisory services

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze e-procurement adoption projects with specific focus on the Italian market. E-procurement adoption is critical for organizations, both for its internal efficiency and for the deep impact on sustainability issues. E-procurement adoption, however, is a complex journey as its implementation deals with various obstacles and the adoption costs can limit the overall organizational performance. Advisory services can support organizations in reaching the overall benefits of the e-procurement solution also by reducing the setbacks related to low technology literacy of end-users. Accordingly, we analyze adoption of e-procurement, its main variables and outputs, by focusing on a comparative case study based on an exploratory-inductive investigation of two Italian leading providers. The data have been collected through primary (semistructured interviews) and secondary (companies' internal documents and companies' websites) sources. Results highlight that when firms decide to adopt e-procurement, advisory services have an enabling role that can support them into implementation, and particularly for overcoming barriers and helping them to achieve the expected benefits.