Making e-procurement work in a decentralized procurement system : A comparison of three Indonesian cities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of initiative e-procurement in decentralized system on Indonesia’s local government system. Design/methodology/approach – The authors combine quantitative and qualitative methods. The central finding of this research is that human resources are the pivotal factors that determine the performance of local e-procurement in three cities. This research focusses on three local governments in Indonesia – Yogyakarta City, Tangerang City, and Kutaikartanegara Regency. Findings – The central finding of this research is that human resources are the pivotal factors that determine the performance of local e-procurement in three cities. However, Tangerang City is going institutionalization phase in e-procurement initiative to ensure its sound local regulation. Research limitations/implications – There are several limitations to this study including the recent nature of decentralized procurement in Indonesia, limited standardized and disaggregated data on local government procurement expenditures and performance. Practical implications – The study recommends that human resources management in procurement needs to be addressed by both local and central government. Originality/value – e-Procurement is an important instrument for preventing corruption in goods and services procurement. Indonesia has been implementing an e-procurement policy since 2008 based on a Presidential Decree. The president has issued annual orders (presidential instructions), and all central ministries and local governments have been required to comply with them to obtain their budget through the e-procurement system. However, as of 2012 fiscal year, only around 10.26 percent of the central government institution procurement budget and 10 percent of the local government procurement budget in Indonesia went through the e-procurement system, with wide variations among cities.