Avoiding the pitfalls of cooperative purchasing through control and coordination: insights from a humanitarian context

In this paper, barriers to cooperative purchasing are discussed from
an inter-organisational coordination perspective and a framework for successful
cooperative purchasing is introduced. Potential benefits such as economies of
scale, better transparency and more efficient information exchange have
generated high interest for cooperative purchasing as a supply chain strategy.
However, literature notes several instancesof such cooperation not having the
expected outcomes. We aimed to further the understanding of the barriers to
cooperative purchasing. By studying an exemplary situation of an unsuccessful
cooperative purchasing, the attractiveness and inherent complexity of a
cooperative purchasing process is highlighted. This study draws on and adds to
the existing literature on cooperative purchasing by discussing coordination
related barriers to cooperative purchasing and provides managerial insights into
what to consider when engaging in the cooperative purchasing strategy to avoid
the pitfalls.