Research on SME involvement in public procurement: A review, critique and conceptual framework

Abstract

SME involvement in public procurement has attracted research interest from inside and outside the PSM community for several decades. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review its progress to date and contribute to its future development. It does so by undertaking descriptive and thematic analyses on 119 academic articles, which help to shed light on the characteristics of the subject and its research themes. Five overarching themes emerge: systemic barriers, policy and practice interventions, SME capacity, SME performance and sustainability in the public sector. The paper subsequently organises these themes into a conceptual framework as a first step towards theorization. The framework identifies the systemic and organisational factors that influence SME involvement and the outcomes for suppliers, public sector organisations and the marketplace that stem from such involvement. By integrating the various strands of research in this way, a clearer picture of SME involvement in public procurement starts to take shape. In addition to the conceptual framework, the paper critically evaluates what research has revealed to date while pinpointing areas that deserve future scholarly attention. Relevant in respect of the latter is explicit theoretical framing of issues like SMEs’ capacity to compete, sensitivity to the heterogeneity of SMEs’ as public sector suppliers, and empirical attention to under-explored aspects like typologies of SMEs’ motivations. Implications for practice are also discussed within the paper.