Green supply management in the public and private sector in Hungary

Abstract

This paper compares the green purchasing practices of the private sector with those of public procurement. Private sector purchasing in Western economies is often seen as a benchmark for public procurement in terms of efficiency, management processes and the management of spending. We present the results of a literature review and a survey about this topic that was carried out in Hungary. The number of publications that compare the two fields is low, even in Western countries, however, the Hungarian data and evaluation show similarities with earlier international findings. Results indicate that supplier management is more important for private organisations, while public entities focus on the procurement process and the administrative requirements of national regulations. Due to the lack of East European comparative studies, this paper follows the approach of the European and US literature in terms of concept development.