ICT and procurement: the side effects of an e-sourcing strategy of an italian bank group

The purpose of this work is to analyze the benefits that enterprises may enjoy due to the adoption of e-procurement solutions. Our research question is: can e-procurement solutions provide the basis for an efficient community-based social procurement policy? How can these technological and organizational platforms facilitate the decision making process regarding local as opposed to global procurement policies?In particular, the analysis concerns the e-sourcing solutions implemented by an Italian bank group and the main organizational implications connected with the use of such systems within the purchasing department. The peculiarities detected by this study through the administration of interviews to a few department managers confirmed that the e-sourcing systems adopted by the group have allowed large savings in terms of lower purchase prices and most of all in terms of rationalization of the procurement process. At the same time, due to the new business processes implemented in the procurement department, new policies may be allowed. Rather than focus on a pure price-efficiency comparison among the suppliers, the buyers are now able to perceive a wider social-efficiency comparison, taking into account not only economic parameters but also social constraints and their economic effects.