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THE USE OF ELECTRONIC TOOLS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AS A FACTOR SPURRING DEMAND FOR INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN THE ECONOMY, ACCORDING TO CONTRACTORS
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- 31.Introduction
- 32.1 Innovations and electronic public procurement against empirical research
- 33.Conclusion
THE USE OF ELECTRONIC TOOLS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AS A FACTOR SPURRING DEMAND FOR INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN THE ECONOMY, ACCORDING TO CONTRACTORS30.Arkadiusz BorowiecAbstract By generating a number of economic and non-economic benefits, electronic procurement can act as an important tool for creating demand for innovation by the public sector, and thus raise the innovativeness of the entire national economy. The purpose of this article is to gather information on the state of knowledge of the repre-sentatives of companies taking part in tenders regarding various electronic tools in the public procurement system, and to evaluate the image of public entities responsible for their imple-mentation, and to gather opinions on the possibility of implementing such solutions in the pro-cess of spurring demand for innovation. The results come from a questionnaire conducted among 176 companies in various indus-tries that participated in the public procurement system as contractors. The survey was con-ducted electronically. The time range of the study covered the first half of 2015 and con-cerned the contractors located in Poland. In the opinion of the surveyed companies the use of electronic tools in the Polish public procurement system is conducive to spurring demand for innovation. Contractors see broad prospects in connection with the computerization of the public procurement system in Poland. However, they are dependent on the actions of authorities.
The scope of innovation proposed by J. Schumpeter is indeed very wide, but he considers it as an exogenous factor of economic growth. It is fundamental from the point of view of economic theory, because it implies that innovation provides resources with new opportunities to create wealth (Białoń, 2010). The aforementioned supply side theory by J. Schumpeter found numerous opponents in literature. For example, 1960s were marked by a theory by Jacob Schmooklera (1966). It pointed to the relationship between appearing innovations and market demand. Karlhainz Oppenländer (2000) combined both theories - of supply and of demand in the late 1980s. According to his theory, innovations introduced by entrepreneurs can constitute a turning point, but remain in minority. Current economic situation is characterized by high volatility and uncertainty of environment and it is important to continuously improve processes and create new products and services, in order to ensure stable income for market participants. Therefore, all sorts of competitiveness enhancing innovations have also been gaining importance (Kalinowski, 2010). The importance of innovation as a source of competitive advantage and a determinant of economic development has been described in numerous scientific publications of both Polish and foreign authors. The noteworthy ones include the works by Porter (1998), Kay, J. (1996), Hamel, G., Prahalad, C.K. (1999) and Simon, H. (1999). In view of these theories it is worth considering how the system of public procurement contributes to the growth of innovativeness in national economies. For this reason the author of this paper considers the use of electronic tools as an instrument, which used rationally, can become public sector's tool for creating demand for innovation, and thus raise the innovativeness of national economies. Solutions in this area proposed by the Polish Public Procurement Act can constitute a starting point. The purpose of the research conducted along with this article was to obtain information about the state of knowledge in companies taking part in public tenders regarding various electronic tools in the public procurement system. The idea was also to evaluate the image of public entities responsible for the execution of public tenders and to gather opinions on the possibility of implementing such solutions in the process of creating demand for innovation. Although purposeful sampling does not provide as representative results as random sampling, the individuals selected for the study point to a much higher usability of the obtained results. As already mentioned, the research results presented in this section were obtained from a questionnaire conducted among 176 companies in various industries, which participated in the public procurement system as contractors. The survey was conducted electronically. In order to verify the test results and determine the relation a chi-square independence test was used. The study covered the first half of 2015 and concerned contractors located in Poland. 32.1 Innovations and electronic public procurement against empirical researchIn recent years, innovativeness has been one of the priority areas of economic policy in Poland and other EU countries. This policy, in line with the understanding of innovations as a driver of economic growth (Romer, 1986), is reflected in many documents at Community level, as well as in actions conducted by governments of many states. However, the analysis of Poland's position in the ranking of EU innovativeness demonstrates that its economy is characterized by a low level of this indicator, and scores one of the last in comparison to the remaining EU Member States0. What is especially worrying is the insufficient activity reported in connection with the decommissioning of institutional barriers and insufficient adaptation of public institutions to the needs of entrepreneurs. Electronic public procurement appears to be one of the methods to eliminate these barriers and adapt to the needs of entrepreneurs in the public procurement system0. Polish law distinguishes several instruments in this regard, including an electronic auction as the most important one, followed by a dynamic purchasing system. Unfortunately, despite legal possibilities of the use of innovation-oriented electronic tools for the purposes of public procurement, their use raises a number of problems and obstacles (Borowiec, 2013). This fact has spurred the research to define e-procurement as a factor spurring demand for innovative solutions in the economy, according to the surveyed contractors. Construction and service sector companies dominated among the surveyed business entities. The respondents also represented IT companies, industry, agriculture and education. As far as the employment structure is concerned, small and micro-enterprises were dominant. Most surveyed companies had their seats in Greater Poland and Lubusz Voivodeships, while Podlasie and Lublin remained the least represented. The questionnaire with its imprint included 15 questions of which the vast majority concerned the closed ones. 84 respondents affirmatively answered the question about contact with electronic procedures in public procurement. It was about 48% of the studied population. Most replies were related to the exchange of correspondence with the authorities, the use of websites, as well as participating in bidding and electronic auctions. IT companies and service providers prevailed in this field. It is worth noting that the majority of companies declaring contact with electronic procedures are large and medium-sized enterprises. The advantage of business sector over public institutions - as demonstrated in previous studies (Borowiec, 2013) - is not surprising in the context of the use of electronic tools. Building an information society requires companies to use a wide spectrum of technical innovations. Through their acquisition and implementation such companies improve their chances in a competitive market. This is not the case for government officials, as in their case the notion of competing for a customer is practically non-existent. 98% of the respondents replied affirmatively to the question on the elimination of corrupt practices through the use of electronic tools in the public procurement system. This result is very similar to previous responses obtained from the authorities and shows that solutions such as electronic auctions largely solve the problems of corruption in the Polish public procurement system0. Interesting replies appeared in connection with the question about the friendliness of applicable legal provisions on the use of electronic tools. Only 16% of respondents expressed their approval in this regard, while 65% felt that the law did not favor this type of solutions. This may indicate a low level of knowledge or some misunderstanding among contractors in the field of legal provisions in the public procurement system. As it turns out, one of the barriers for small and medium enterprises is a legal one, expressed primarily in the non-use and misunderstanding of applicable rules (Łuczka, 2005). Therefore, it is not surprising that 19% of respondents are not able to express an opinion on the legislation in force. Replies regarding the benefits of electronic tools in the procurement procedures are shown in Figure 1.
The replies of authorities and the results obtained from contractors demonstrate great im-portance of the acquisition of innovative solutions in connection with the use of electronic tools in public procurement. Interestingly, contractors consider economic benefits as the least important. Such a reply can be easily justified, because what the authorities consider a benefit is a waste for contractors. While bidding the lowest price, entrepreneurs "give up" their profits. Therefore, it is difficult to believe that an entrepreneur aware of this fact would approve of such an option. The most frequent response in the case of "other" was the elimination of geographical barri-ers for public tenders. As it turns out, tenders are often won by companies from an immediate vicinity of the ordering authority. The participation in electronic auctions eliminates this prob-lem and enables contracting authorities to obtain more modern and innovative solutions ap-plied in other regions, countries and even continents. This fact also explains such a high per-centage of affirmative responses indicating high innovative potential of using electronic tools in procurement procedures. As shown by the test results, not without significance for entrepreneurs is also improving and speeding up the procedure related to the execution of public tenders. However, unlike authorities, they differently perceive increasing competitiveness in public procurement. They identify it primarily with contracting authority's greater respect for such rights as the principle of fair competition, or equality. Almost 88% of respondents considered the use of electronic tools in procurement proce-dures as innovative. The respondents pointed out to outdated methods used by government officials as well as high formalization of procedures, which is facilitated by documenting each step in writing. In this respect, their point of view that the introduction of procedures for abol-ishing bureaucratic barriers is considered as modern and innovative does not surprise at all. This question was related to another one regarding the image of public institutions, in con-nection with their use of electronic tools in procurement procedures. As it could be expected, the use of these tools would significantly improve this image in the eyes of entrepreneurs. It would also increase confidence in the structures of the state. Both the respondents and the contracting authorities provided similar replies to the ques-tion about the type of innovation that can be achieved using electronic procurement. In this case, the highest response rate was associated with product innovations (44%). The distribu-tion of replies is shown in Figure 2. According to Figure 2, other types of innovations had quite similar distribution of respons-es. It is due to a very different profile of companies participating in the survey and a broader range of services than the demand from public entities. Figure 2. The types of innovations linked to the use of electronic tools in public pro-curement, according to contractors Source: own study based on test results. The actions necessary to gain wider access to electronic tools can be divided into several groups. The first of these includes actions on economic grounds. The most common response in this group regarded government authorities providing access to free electronic signature for every citizen and business, as well as reducing the cost of Internet usage. Another group of actions includes those with technical background. The most popular replies here pointed to the need for an access to such services as e-certificate, as well as creating a system that would enable comprehensive cooperation of public entities with the environment. The third group concerns organizational actions. Among the most important measures the respondents mentioned a wider access to free training in the field of computerization of the public procurement system, and the dissemination of instructions on the use of existing electronic solutions. The last group of actions indicated by entrepreneurs regarded those of legislative nature. The following two replies appeared to be the most prominent: the need to introduce an obligation for the authorities to use electronic procedures related to the emergence of the best bid and the need for the legislator to clarify regulations on the use of electronic procedures. 33.ConclusionIn summary, it is possible to conclude that in the opinion of the surveyed companies the use of electronic tools in the Polish public procurement system is conducive to creating demand for innovation. One cannot resist an impression that the contractors are those who see broader perspectives in connection with the computerization of the Polish public procurement system and perceive it as a greater chance for implementing innovation0. They, however, depend on the actions of authorities since the latter determine the mode of public contracts and the entire procedure to be followed in order to select the best offer. To create demand for innovation through the computerization of the public procurement system it is necessary to imitate more developed economies and eliminate the problems encountered in daily practice by both contractors and authorities. It seems that public sector should be interested in large-scale computerization of the public procurement system as this contributes to increasing the efficiency and innovativeness of services, supplies and construction works. References Białoń, L. (red.) (2010), Zarządzanie działalnością innowacyjną, Warszawa, Placet. Borowiec, A. (2009), Pożądane kierunki zmian w polskim systemie zamówień publicznych w aspekcie przeciwdziałania praktykom korupcyjnym – współczesne koncepcje przeciwdziałania negatywnym zjawiskom, Szczecin, Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego nr 573, Ekonomiczne problemy usług nr 45. Borowiec, A. (2013), Zamówienia publiczne jako instrument kreowania popytu na innowacje, Poznań, Wyd. Politechniki Poznańskiej. Hamel, G., Prahalad, C.K., (1999), Przewaga konkurencyjna jutra, Warszawa, Buisness Press. Kalinowski, T.B., (2010), Innowacyjność przedsiębiorstw a systemy zarządzania jakością, Warszawa, Oficyna Wolters Kluwer. Kay, J., (1996), Podstawy sukcesu firm, Warszawa, PWE. Łuczka, T., (2005), Bariery rozwoju małych i średnich przedsiębiorstw w Polsce, w: Małe i średnie przedsiębiorstwa – szkice o współczesnej przedsiębiorczości, red. T. Łuczka, Poznań, Wyd. Politechniki Poznańskiej. Oppenländer, K.H., (2000), Empirische Wirtschaftsforschung als Grunlage für unternehmerisches und wirtschaftspolitisches Handeln, Berlin, Duncker und Humbolt. Porter, M.E., (1998), Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, New York, Free Press. Romer, P.M. (1986). Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth. Journal of Political Economy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/261420 Simon, H., (1999), Tajemniczy mistrzowie. Studia przypadków, Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. Schmookler, J., (1966), Invention and Economic Growth, Cambrige, CUP. Schumpeter, J., (1960), Teoria rozwoju gospodarczego, Warszawa, PWN. Contact Assoc. Eng. Arkadiusz Borowiec University of Technology, Faculty of management Engineering 60-965 Poznań, ul. Strzelecka 11 Arkadiusz.Borowiec@put.poznan.pl
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