This document analyzes the effectiveness and efficiency of e-procurement and e-commerce in governmental units. It discusses how e-procurement has evolved through stages from information dissemination to two-way communication to online transactions. The complexity of integration is described through a model of e-government growth involving cataloging, transactions, vertical integration, and horizontal integration. Both the effectiveness and efficiency of a government agency's use of e-procurement and e-commerce depends on factors such as adoption of the technologies, governance structures, adoption of shared services, and management of IT services.

1. E-PROCUREMENT& E-COMMERCE
Effectiveness and Efficiency of these Governmental Units
OBJECTIVE
To summarize and analyze the
effectiveness and efficiency of the
governmental units, E-Procurement and
E-Commerce.
E. Rey Garcia, MPA Candidate
PAFF 6315: Management of
Government Information Systems
An Executive Summary
The University of Texas Rio Grande
Valley (UTRGV)
September 27, 2015

2. E-Procurement & E-Commerce 1
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3. E-Procurement & E-Commerce 2
An Executive Summary
E-Procurement & E-Commerce
Effectiveness and Efficiency of these Governmental Units
**********
E. Rey Garcia, MPA Candidate
PAFF 6315: Management of Government Information Systems
Fall 2015, Module One
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)
College of Liberal Arts
Master of Public Affairs-Administration
Lecturer: John Milford
**********
September 27, 2015

4. E-Procurement & E-Commerce 3
Intentionally Left Blank

5. E-Procurement & E-Commerce 4
An Executive Summary on E-Procurement & E-Commerce
Effectiveness and Efficiency of these Governmental Units
E. Rey Garcia, MPA Candidate
September 27, 2015
Objective
To summarize and analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of the governmental units, E-
Procurement and E-Commerce.
Executive Summary
E-Procurement is the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies
to carry out all stages of the procurement process such as search, sourcing, negotiation, ordering,
receipt, and post purchase. Public sector e-commerce is any process or transaction conducted by
a government agency over a network, transferring the ownership or the rights to use goods and
services, or information.
Traditional procurement required endless paper and fragmented purchasing, off-contract buying,
and the lack of control over expenses. With the evolution of e-government, e-procurement has
grown into three stages. The first, is information dissemination, where the government agency
posts information to their website for vendors and suppliers; the second, is two-way
communication, allowing vendors and suppliers to communicate with the government agency
and make updates to their requests; and the third, is the transactional-stage, where the vendors
and supplies interact with the government agency’s portal website and perform actual self-
service, online transactions, and therefore, replace public servants. These services may include
online vouchers and payment services, and digital signatures.

6. E-Procurement & E-Commerce 5
The complexity involved in the different levels of integrations are applied in the model of e-
government growth, by Layne and Lee (2001), where four stages of growth include: Cataloging,
or the establishment of an online-presence for the government in the procurement function;
Transactions, focuses on connecting the procurement sources and allows for electronic
transactions with the government agency; Vertical integration, where the local, state, and
federal governments work as a consortium by connecting different functions and services of the
government; and Horizontal integration, where the consolidation of different functions and
services, such as accounting, budgeting, payroll, and procurement are integrated into one
process.
Both the effectiveness and efficiency of the government agency’s use of e-procurement and e-
commerce depends on the following: the adoption of e-procurement by the organization; the
governance structures and technologies used for e-procurement by the agency’s Information
Technology (IT); the adoption of share services and the consolidation of administrative support
services across the organization; and the proper management of IT services. Public managers
need to examine empirical data to foresee if the outsourcing of technology is a factor that
impacts the outcome, which must provide a high-level of support, reliance, alignment, and
alliance.

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References
Reddick, C. (2012). E-Procurement, E-Commerce, and Online Financial Reporting. In Public
Administration and Information Technology. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning