How Do Organizational Attributes Shape Vendor Relationship Importance in Public Procurement: A Configurational Exploration

• In Event: Relational Public Procurement

Abstract

Vendor relationships play a critical role in public procurement, especially as governments increasingly rely on external partners to achieve policy goals such as sustainability (Lamothe & Lamothe, 2012; Asa et al., 2023). While prior research has emphasized transactional and contractual aspects of public procurement (e.g., Brunjes, 2022; Brown et al., 2018; Petersen et al., 2019), less attention has been paid to how organizational attributes influence the perceived importance of vendor relationships. Addressing this gap, this study adopts a configurational perspective (Fiss, 2007; Furnari et al., 2021) to examine how combinations of structure, culture, and value-orientation within local governments shape the importance placed on vendor relationships.

Using data from a nationwide survey of U.S. municipalities and applying fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), we identify two distinct approaches with three equifinal configurations associated with high importance of vendor relationships. The first—a government-driven approach—suggests that centralized, segmented governments with strong environmental capabilities but limited discretion tend to emphasize vendor engagement in procurement. The second path—a collaborative approach—reveals that even without strong environmental capabilities, decentralized and well-coordinated governments that foster innovative and empowering cultures also prioritize vendor relationships.

This study advances theoretical understanding by demonstrating how equifinal configurations of organizational conditions can enable meaningful vendor engagement, underscoring the importance of alignment among a government’s structural and cultural attributes, as well as its commitment to sustainability. Practically, the findings offer guidance for public managers on how to leverage internal organizational levers to enhance external collaboration with vendors, particularly in pursuit of complex goals such as environmental sustainability.

Authors

• Yifan Chen, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
  Presenting Author

• Nicole Darnall, American University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Ana Maria Dimand, Boise State University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author