Criteria of choice for procurement methods

Over the past fifteen years much work has been done on attempting to define procurement paths and Masterman (1992) provides a good background to some of this work. As the traditional procurement route came under closer scrutiny other procurement routes developed and consequently means for selection were considered.
In 1985 NEDO set out general requirements for the selection of a procurement path and others including Skitmore and Marsden in 1988, Bennett and Grice in 1990 and ELSIE computer system in 1990 sought to assist in making the selection. More recently Morledge and Sharif (1996, a, b) have discussed procurement strategy, summarised procurement options and outlined a process to assist in the selection of the best procurement strategy. Gillespie (1994) questions the extent that rationality plays in procurement selection and suggest that other factors often influence choice. Some other researchers suggested the use of fuzzy logic to produce computerised systems to help practitioners (Peak et al., 1992; Russell, 1992). Turner (1990) provides an assessment of the risk inherent in procurement routes and it can be inferred that this is an important determinant in the route selected.