New Article Analyzing Reverse Auctions in Government in the Journal of Public Procurement

Image via Wikipedia

This is a very good scholarly article on the use of reverse auctions across government, both in the United States and around the world, that has just been published in the Journal of Public Procurement. It is entitled, "ELECTRONIC REVERSE AUCTIONS AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR: FACTORS OF SUCCESS." The article was authored by Moshe E. Shalev and Stee Asbjornsen, who are the Contracts Officer, and an Associate Procurement Officer, respectively, with the United Nations Secretariat Procurement Division in New York City. The very expansive article should be a must read for all involved in public procurement, as it speaks to the power of competition that reverse auctions bring to governmental acquisition. The article's Abstract is reproduced below:


ABSTRACT. 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. 


Now, the article itself is a bit hard to access (unless you happen to subscribe to the Journal of Public Procurement. It resides on the Scribd website, and you can download it from this URL (although it may cost you unless you wish to post a document or presentation in return):


http://www.scribd.com/doc/39032383/Electronic-Reverse-Auction-and-the-Public-Sector-Factors-of-Success-Moshe-E-Shalev-Stee-Asbjorensen


Seek it out - well worth the trouble!

David Wyld, Professor of Management
Southeastern Louisiana University

Wyld About Business (http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/)

From the Reverse Auction Research Center: http://reverseauctionresearch.blogspot.com/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

Related articles

• The Game Changing Impact of Reverse Auctions: The Momentum is Building for Competitive Bidding Across All Spending Categories (bizcovering.com)
• The Ivy League Moves to Reverse Auctions: Cornell Demonstrates How Colleges and Universities Can Save Significantly on Their Acquisition Costs (computersight.com)
• New Consumer Driven Reverse Auction Site Changes the Way Reverse Auctions are Handled (prweb.com)
• Driving Information Technology Costs Down in The Public Sector Down Under: The Australian Government Proposes Big Changes in Public Sector Contracting (bizcovering.com)
• Fedbid: Revolutionizing Procurement in The Federal Government (socyberty.com)
• Name Your Own Price for Not Flying!: Delta Experiments with Reverse Auction Kiosks for Passengers (trifter.com)
• Reverse Auctions: The New Use of Auctions as a Policy Mechanism to Best Allocate Taxpayer Dollars (bizcovering.com)
• How to Revolutionize Governmental Buying: The Customs and Border Protection Service Blazes The Way in The Federal Sector with Reverse Auction Buying (bizcovering.com)
• Millions Today, Billions Tomorrow: A Report on Reverse Auction Implementation at The Department of Health and Human Services (socyberty.com)
• How Green is Your Garden?: Using Reverse Auctioning to Maximize Citizen Participation in Governmental-led Environmental Programs (scienceray.com)
• Let's Rejoice! The Feds are Auctioning at Least .032% of the Federal Budget (enterpriseirregulars.com)

++++++++++++++++++++++

Reverse Auctions Produce Significant Savings for the Federal Government on Energy Procurements

Want to save money on energy contracts and increase transparency in the process? This is the promise of reverse auctions in energy procurement - a topic we've been following closely here at The Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.blogspot.com/). Our friend, Chris Dorobek has conducted an interesting interview on the subject with Richard Domaleski, who is the CEO of World Energy. You can listen to the full interview at the link below:

Federal News Radio 1500 AM: Reverse auctions help agencies with transparency

Very interesting times in the energy field, as the interests of governments - at all levels - to save money is spurring intense interest in procuring the ultimate commodity (electricity) through reverse auctions to produce significant budgetary savings.

David

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Related articles by Zemanta

• Why Not Everything?: Why Comprehensive Auctioning May be The Best Strategy for Using Reverse Auctions in Your Procurement Operations (bizcovering.com)
• Reverse Auctions: Are They Well-suited for Procuring Telecom Services? (socyberty.com)
• Mulching for Dollars: Reverse Auctions Provide Savings Beyond The Garden Variety (bizcovering.com)
• Millions Today, Billions Tomorrow: A Report on Reverse Auction Implementation at The Department of Health and Human Services (socyberty.com)
• Becoming Green and Saving Green in The Process: Using Reverse Auctions to Allocate Billions in Funding for Renewable Energy Projects (socyberty.com)
• When Reverse Auctions Come Up Against "The Machine" in State of Illinois (spendmatters.com)
• Illinois Reverse Auctions Redux -- When Journalists Selectively Quote to Skew Stories (spendmatters.com)
• Virtual Reverse Auctions: How They Could Revolutionize World of Warcraft and Other Virtual Worlds (And Maybe Even The Real One, Too!) (bizcovering.com)
• How to Revolutionize Governmental Buying: The Customs and Border Protection Service Blazes The Way in The Federal Sector with Reverse Auction Buying (bizcovering.com)

++++++++++++++++++++++

Reverse Auctions About to be Employed for Allocating Universal Broadband Service?

We may be just about to see one of the biggest - and most high profile - implementations of reverse auctions in the public sector. As was recently reported by the online publication, The Connected Planet (http://connectedplanetonline.com/), all signs point to the fact that the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) will employ reverse auctions to help allocate universal broadband access by having potential service suppliers bid down the price - providing the most coverage for the least amount of expenditure by the federal government. Image via Wikipedia
You can read the complete analysis on the matter in the article, "The reverse auction conundrum," written by Joan Engebretson at:
The reverse auction conundrum

Interesting times.....we'll keep you abreast of developments here at the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.blogspot.com/).

David
++++++++++++++++++++++

Related articles by Zemanta

• Reverse Auctions: Are They Well-suited for Procuring Telecom Services? (socyberty.com)
• Illinois Reverse Auctions Redux -- When Journalists Selectively Quote to Skew Stories (spendmatters.com)
• Mulching for Dollars: Reverse Auctions Provide Savings Beyond The Garden Variety (bizcovering.com)
• How to Revolutionize Governmental Buying: The Customs and Border Protection Service Blazes The Way in The Federal Sector with Reverse Auction Buying (bizcovering.com)
• Virtual Reverse Auctions: How They Could Revolutionize World of Warcraft and Other Virtual Worlds (And Maybe Even The Real One, Too!) (bizcovering.com)
• When Reverse Auctions Come Up Against "The Machine" in State of Illinois (spendmatters.com)
• The Reverse Auction Conundrum: Despite Benefits, Why Does Adoption Lag? (spendmatters.com)
• Better Than The Priceline Negotiator: A Reverse Auction Model for Travel (trifter.com)
• Millions Today, Billions Tomorrow: A Report on Reverse Auction Implementation at The Department of Health and Human Services (socyberty.com)
• Why Not Everything?: Why Comprehensive Auctioning May be The Best Strategy for Using Reverse Auctions in Your Procurement Operations (bizcovering.com)