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Advances in Politics and Economic 
ISSN 2576-1382 (Print) ISSN 2576-1390 (Online) 

Vol. 1, No. 2, 2018 
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80 
 

Original Paper 

The Science of Public Procurement and Administration. 

International Public Procurement Conference 

Robert Agwot Komakech1* 
1 Lecturer/EX-Head of Department Business Studies, Kumi University, P.O Box 178, Kumi-Uganda 

(East Africa) 
* Robert Agwot Komakech, Lecturer/EX-Head of Department Business Studies, Kumi University, P.O 

Box 178, Kumi-Uganda (East Africa) 

 

Received: June 6, 2018          Accepted: June 18, 2018        Online Published: June 25, 2018 

doi:10.22158/ape.v1n2p80              URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/ape.v1n2p80 

 

Abstract 

This paper reviewed Benon C. Basheka book’s chapter on the Science of Public Procurement and 

Administration published by International Public Procurement Conference in 2013. The objective of the 

review was to expand on the origin of procurement, highlight the areas that make public procurement 

discipline to be an art or science and make recommendations for policy makers and researchers. The 

author found that public procurement is still at its infant stage with little known theory though it has a 

close relationship with public administration. Although public procurement has existed from the time 

man started trade, procurement was chaotic and disorganized since there was nothing unethical or 

illegal about receiving kickbacks from contractors. The author also found that, procurement had no 

regulations until 1792 when US Congress passed procurement legislation. The major procurement 

between 300 B.C-3000 B.C was construction of roads, bridges, railway networks and supplies of 

foodstuffs, army uniforms and fighting equipments. The study also reveals procurement as a blend of 

art and science because it is both a theoretical field and an area of practice. The theoretical field (art) is 

concerned with the teaching or academic study while the practice (science) deals with the day to day 

activities of procuring and disposing entities. The author, therefore recommends scholars to conduct 

empirical studies among procurement researchers, lecturers and practitioners in relation to the field 

procurement should belong to so as to have consensus on procurement field/discipline as it was done 

with procurement meaning. Finally, since there is no consensus between public and private 

procurement agenda; it means procurement is not a pure science but it is an art and science. 

Keywords 

Public Procurement, art or science, kickbacks, discipline  



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1. Introduction 

Benon C. Basheka’s book chapter on the Science of Public Procurement and Administration has ignited 

academic debate to researchers and post graduate students during case discussions and presentations. 

With the observed forum discussions and research seminars, the debates whether procurement is an art 

or science does not end without a mention of public administration. Thus public procurement seems to 

have a close relationship with public administration. Flynn and Paul (2014) observed that public 

procurement resides on the periphery of management science. The field of public procurement 

therefore, is at its infant stage with little known theory. Chick and Handfield (2014) have revealed that 

procurement is relatively new profession with little interest as it appeared to require little/no skill to 

perform the functions as compared to other business and management professions like marketing, 

finance and human resource management. Basheka (2013) emphasized that public procurement theory 

must be concerned with the origin of the function within government; cover the theory of legislation for 

public procurement research and the role of various institutions and actors in that effort. Although 

procurement publications started to increase in the early 1990s, the publication of the first procurement 

textbooks by England (1970), Lee and Dobler (1971) and Bailey and Farmer (1977) gave the 

foundation stones of procurement as academic subject (Chick & Handfield, 2014). Contributing to the 

same debate, Basheka (2013) acknowledges that, there is poverty of procurement content which has 

partly contributed to eventual neglect in public administration research. Flynn and Paul (2014) assert 

that procurement research is focused on organizational level aspects more than regulatory policy issues 

or public buyers with more studies emanating from the North American and European regions. This 

assertion holds because in Uganda and other African countries most of procurement authors are the 

people who had a hand in public procurement reforms capacity development and training in their 

respective countries or scholars from law, economics, business, engineering, defense and health (Flynn 

& Paul, 2014; Basheka, 2013). Therefore, although public procurement is a key in the delivery of 

services to the citizens; its explicit elaboration on whether procurement is an “Art” or “Science” is still 

lacking. Thus, the main objectives of this study are to examine and explain the evolution of public 

procurement, analyzed literature on procurement field, draw conclusions and recommendations from 

the findings. 

 

2. Evolution of Public Procurement 

Purchasing is a function that has probably existed since organized trading commenced (Callender & 

Mathews, 2000). Thai (2001) adds that the history of procurement is long. According to the existing 

literature, the development of the silk trade between China and Greek colony started during the 8th 

Century (800 B.C.) as reported by Fuwei (1996); while the contractual issues associated with supporting 

the Roman Army in Spain was reported as early as 300 B.C. (Livy, 1966 cited by Callender & Mathews, 

2000; Grimm & Thai, 2000). More evidence of procurement history is in Syria where the earliest 

procurement order was written on a red clay tablet from between 2400 and 2800 B.C. (Thai, 2001; 



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Grimm & Thai, 2000). The first order was for the purchase of 50 jars of fragrant smooth oil for 600 

small weights in grain (Coe, 1989 as cited by Thai, 2001). Furthermore, the construction of the 

Pyramid-Building in Egypt in 3000 B.C is another way procurement manifested itself (Basheka, 2013; 

Thai, 2001; Grimm & Thai, 2000). Sumerian societies erected sophisticated public buildings where the 

need to source was generated by demand for glass and other products that were not available locally. 

However, many organizations ignored the importance of purchasing at their peril for instance there was 

great tendency to belittle purchasing and treat it in a negligent and offhand manner. Keeney (2007) 

reinforced the evidence that, most of the goods and services needed by government were supplied by 

Commissioners or Commissaries, who received a commission on what they bought for the militia or 

other administrative units since there were no professional procurement officials. 

In the United States, the roots of procurement system lie in England, as does much of the rest of the 

U.S. legal system. The English colonists brought with them English common law, and with it, the 

English system of military procurement (Keeney, 2007). In the mid-eighteenth century, a British field 

army was responsible for obtaining its supplies locally. The Commissary General was responsible for 

the acquisition of foodstuffs and related items, while the Quartermaster General was responsible for 

transportation, construction, and other supplies. However, at the time, procurement was based on trial 

and error as a result; a Secret Committee of Trade was established in 1775s during the English trade 

embargo to be responsible for military supply (Keeney, 2007; Nuxoll, 2006). During the period, there 

was nothing unethical or illegal about receiving kickbacks from contractors. According to (Siri, 2005; 

Miller, 1992) as cited by Keeney (2007); authors reported that, kickbacks were the expected means of 

compensation for civil servants in a position of the Royal Navy Clerk, which is equivalent to a modern 

Contracting Officer since it was unpaid position in government job in London. These irregularities gave 

birth to the first procurement legislation in 1792 passed by the US Congress. The act authorized the 

Departments of War and Treasury to contract on behalf of the nation (Keeney, 2007; Callender & 

Mathews, 2000).  

Similarly, Japan made its first tender announcement in 1678 for the construction of a bridge at 

Reiganjima and Minamikayabacho in Edo and repair work of trunk road in Edo (Isohata, 2009). 

Keeney (2007) reported that, early procurement in the Civil War was disorganized and chaotic. Agents 

from Washington and Richmond, Union and Confederate states, and private individuals on both sides 

all tried to purchase the same goods, thus driving prices up and quality down (Keeney, 2007; Nagle, 

1999). In some cases, agents used public money to finance private ventures and only pay the money 

back if the private investment was successful leading to gross financial loss of tax payers’ money. This 

practice shows that procurement is still in its relative infancy and has not yet reached its intellectual 

maturity.  

From 1798 into the new nineteenth century, many now-familiar contracting practices came into being. 

The first requirements contracts were put in place to address the difficulties of supplying troops on the 

Western frontier. The distances involved, over bad roads or no roads, with dangers from wild animals, 



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bandits, and hostile Native Americans, made troop supply very expensive (Keeney, 2007). By 1900, 

there were few separate and distinct procurement departments; and the United States continental 

congress became the first to appoint procurement commissaries. In 1950s and 1960s, procurement 

continued to gain stature as the techniques for performing the function became more refined and as the 

number of trained professionals increased. In 1980s and early 1990s procurement began to evolve and 

several books and articles on procurement were published (Chick & Handfield, 2014) to promote 

procurement as an important business function and academic field of study. During the time some 

people portray procurement as a passive, reactive and tactical service while others portrayed it as an 

advanced, integrative and strategic function. In other related literature, the discussion of procurement 

practices and concerns were tailored to specific industries in technical trade publications (Keeney, 2007; 

Chick & Handfield, 2014). With introduction of major public bodies and intergovernmental 

organizations, such as United Nations, procurement became well-recognized though procurement 

agents were basically order-placing clerical personnel serving in a staff-support position. Chick and 

Handfield (2014) studies noted that procurement plays a key role in the management of supplier 

relationships.  

However, in 1990s, procurement management had assumed a position in organizational development 

and management. Consistent with Chick and Handfield (2014), rightly opines that, companies are 

increasingly improving their knowledge and competence in procurement. In other words, procurement 

management had become responsible for acquiring the right materials, services, and technology from 

the right source, at the right time, in the right quantity (Thai, 2001). Procurement management became 

more integrated into the overall corporate strategy and a broad-based transformation of the business 

function was ignited, fueled strongly by the development of supply management software solutions, 

which help automate the source-to-settle process.  

In Africa, most governments that had just attained independence operated their procurement 

management through scattered and un-clear laws and regulations (Odhiambo & Kamau, 2003). The 

reforms in Africa and other developing countries were results of joint efforts with various development 

partners like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation’s 

(WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA)/Procurement Directives like EU Directives and 

North America Free Trade Agreements. Since conditions were varying from country to country; 

developing countries were not to meet all the international requirements (Agaba & Shipman, 2007). 

Basheka and Kabatereine (2013) assert that, the intention of such effort (reform) was to allegedly create 

systems which are more robust in responding to the changing circumstances and meeting the desired 

goals. The authors assertions rhythms well with Hunja (2003) who early revealed that, the aim of the 

reform programmes in many developing countries was to establish a strong and well-functioning 

procurement system that is govern by clear legal and institutional frameworks to avoid financial 

leakages in government entities. To reform public procurement therefore is to have a second look at the 

existing public procurement systems then response to internal and external drivers (Basheka & 



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Kabatereine, 2013) so as to improve service delivery, financial management, promote regional 

integration and local firms by ensuring equity in procurement, and respond to donor pressure and 

political environment. Literature has shown that several developing countries reformed their 

procurement to meet the donors funding conditions. For example Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, Tunisia 

and Kenya created procurement regulatory bodies which are responsible for ensuring compliance with 

the new procurement legislations and policy; maintain consistency in policy and legal interpretation 

and implementation across some or all tiers of government; and responsible for coordinating 

procurement training in early 2000s (Komakech, 2016; Elegbe, 2015; Basheka & Kabatereine, 2013; 

Agaba & Shipman, 2007; Odhiambo & Kamau, 2003) except South Africa, whose procurement 

regulation can be traced to the desire of the post-apartheid government in 1995. The aim of 

South Africa procurement reform was to promote good governance and achieve specified 

socio-economic objectives (Elegbe, 2015).  

In Uganda, the body responsible for public procurement is Public Procurement and Disposal of Public 

Assets Authority (PPDA); while Kenya has Public Procurement and Disposal Act (PPDA) which 

created the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA), the Public Procurement Oversight 

Advisory Board and the Procurement Administrative Review Board; Public Procurement Oversight 

Group for Ghana; South Africa created the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (“OCPO”) and 

Tunisia has five different institutions created to manage public procurement (The Office of Prime 

Ministry, the High Committee of Public Procurement, the National Monitoring Office for Public 

Procurement, the Follow-up and Investigations Committee, and the Committee for Amicable 

Settlement of Disputes). The major objectives of these regulatory bodies are to ensure that 

public procurement is conducted in a transparent, accountable and efficient way so as to 

encourage competition and achieve value for money. This analysis is in agreement with 

Mawuko et al. (2013) study which emphasized that, procurement reforms in Africa have to 

some extent brought modernity, transparency, competition and fairness in the procurement 

process. Despite, the countries interest in reforming public procurement as a mechanism of 

promoting competition, transparency and accountability so as to achieve value for money; 

there has been little to promote procurement as an important business function and academic 

field of study in many countries unlike United States and UK having more than 50 universities 

having procurement/supply management curriculum (Chick & Handfield, 2014). In the next 

section, the researcher provides the understanding of public procurement field (an art or science or 

both) which previous studies have not addressed.  

 

3. Research Methodology 
This article used a qualitative research paradigm and conceptual analysis techniques. The analysis 

involves speculating about connections that have yet to be confirmed with intervention research or 

descriptive studies. Furner (2004) further adds that, Conceptual analysis is a technique that treats 



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concepts as classes of objects, events, properties, or relationships. The technique involves precisely 

defining the meaning of a given concept by identifying and specifying the conditions under which any 

entity or phenomenon is (or could be) classified under the concept in question. Therefore, the 

researcher used conceptual analysis to get better understanding of procurement evolution, public 

procurement, and knowledge of procurement as an Art or Science in the academic study. Series of 

on-line literature search using key words such as procurement theory, procurement discipline, 

procurement field, the art and science of procurement, and procurement as art or science was conducted 

to answer the research problem. The search engine yields forty three different sources of which only 12 

(28%) were relevant to the study. The major sources of the literature were from publications from the 

procurement forums, online journals/textbooks and international conference proceedings on 

procurement/supply chain management.  

 

4. Results and Discussions 
This section presents theoretical results on the convergence understanding of the public procurement as 

identified by the selected scholars.  

4.1 What Is Public Procurement Field (Art, Science or both)? 
United Nations Development Programme (2007) defines public procurement as; an overall process of 

acquiring goods, civil works and services which includes all functions from the identification of needs, 

selection and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contract, and all phases of contract 

administration through the end of a services’ contract or the useful life of an asset. This implies that, 

public procurement is one of the many functions of the government that presents good potential for 

assisting government attain its numerous goals. According to Komakech (2016), public procurement is 

one of the governments most appropriate means to respond to the population needs in a way of not only 

to deliver public goods or services but also ensures value for money so as to improve their lives and 

living conditions. Although public procurement has agreed meaning with uniform process, methods, 

organizational structures in practice, public procurement as an academic field of study lacks a known 

home in most universities. The few public procurement courses remain with no clear home in most 

universities, unlike other disciplines like law, economics, sociology or political science; procurement 

also lacks common methodological agenda for engaging in scientific research (Thai, 2001; Basheka, 

2013). Thus, public Procurement is now a subject claimed by many disciplines. Chick and Handfield 

(2014) observed that procurement is at the heart of supply chain management that focused on supplier 

relationships.  

Basheka (2013) postulates that lack of an agreed upon locus and focus of public procurement research 

among the practitioners is too huge a gap to remain unattended to. The author adds that, scholars need 

to move away from the “art” to the “science” of public procurement; because public procurement 

cannot claim to be a science without firm theoretical knowledge to guide researchers on the appropriate 

“focus and locus” of its subject matter. An art presupposes human skills; and although it calls for 



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knowledge, its emphasis is upon practice rather than theory. A science is concerned with trained skill 

and presupposes knowledge acquired by study. Therefore, procurement is a blend of art and science 

combining business category and supply expert with leading technology, data analysis and associated 

value-based decision support capabilities. The attributes that qualifies procurement as art and science 

are discussed below: 

Since science deals with systematic study of knowledge; procurement planning, reviewing 

specifications, preparing and analyzing bids, negotiating contracts, handling purchase orders, contract 

management and more is the science of procurement. Procurement follow a common process, but how 

it’s carried out depend on circumstances at hand and is affected by many different factors 

(https://www.bayt.com/en/specialties/q/144256/is-procurement-an-art-or-science/). Sohini Kar a 

Business Analyst noted that procurement demands a broad skill set and stringent attention to detail. 

Bartolini (2016) noted that, procurement operation is composed of people with different skills, 

experiences, and motivations. However, the “art” of procurement is acquired mostly through experience. 

According to Bartolini (2016) procurement is an art because it involves the knowledge and insight from 

the humanities and the social and behavioral sciences; nuance and negotiation are critical to the craft. It 

is the knowledge of what to watch for in every step of the process to consistently get the best value on the 

right equipment and avoid costly mistakes. It’s about knowing how to make the most of relationships 

with suppliers. 

Furthermore, rules in science are considered to be so rigid and final of which procurement follow the 

same path. According to Thai in Basheka (2013), public procurement is a science because it consists of 

procurement laws and regulations, procurement organizational structure, procurement processes, 

procurement methods, procurement techniques and procurement professionalism and workforce which 

every public organization has to comply if it’s to have a successful procurement of goods, services or 

works. In line with Bartolini (2016) procurement is a science because it deals with process and 

application and it studies and tests its results; quantitative analysis and precision are valuable tools of 

the trade. Therefore, to achieve procurement mastery in the age of innovation, procurement cadres must 

develop and balance the art (creative) and science (quantitative) capabilities of their organizations to 

deliver maximum value in support of enterprise goals and objectives. 

Another factor that makes procurement to be categorized as an art and science is the procurement 

course establishment. In most universities offering procurement courses in the world, the course is 

housed in business faculties or business colleges while in some universities the course is under the 

faculty of social sciences and humanities. The Table below shows samples of the universities offering 

procurement courses and how they classify the course in the context of “science” or “art”. 

 

 

 

 



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Table 1. Shows Procurement Course Name in Selected Universities/Institutions & Host 

Department 

S/N Name of the 

University/Institute 

Course Name Host Department/College 

1 Makerere University Msc. Procurement & Supply Chain 

Management 

College of Business & 

Management Sciences 

2 Uganda Management Institute Masters in Public Procurement Department of Economics and 

Managerial Science 

3 Jomo Kenyatta University of 

Agriculture & Technology 

Msc. Procurement & Logistics Post Graduate Programme 

4 University of Salford Msc. Procurement, Logistics & 

Supply Chain Management 

Salford Business School 

5 University of South Wales Msc. Strategic Procurement & 

Management 

Business Management 

6 Plymouth University Msc. International Procurement & 

Supply Chain Management 

Plymouth Graduate School of 

Management 

Source: Compiled by the Author from Institutional Website (September, 2016). 

 

Therefore, the development of an academic field of public procurement needs to have a firm theoretical 

foundation that should have true hallmarks of a science. Hence, for procurement to be recognized as a 

discipline in academics there is need for academicians and practitioners to come with independent 

procurement theories other than applying management, social science and economic theories 

(Transaction Cost Theory, Principal Agency Theory, Institutional Theory, Game Theory, Organization 

Theory, Best Value Theory, and System Theory) in the procurement discipline which makes the course 

more integrated to several discipline hence wrong applications of the theories. Walker et al. (2006) 

study concludes that supply management/procurement will continue to embed itself in the Management 

discipline. Thus, public procurement should have stand alone faculty or department other than being 

housed in business schools or public administration departments. 

The procurement procedures take a similar approach in most organizations which is the ideal aspect of 

science. However, public organizations tend to have some slight differences in the procurement as 

opposed to the private sector organizations for instance some of the key differences include:  

a) Private buying is generally in smaller quantities while public buying is generally in larger 

quantities.  

b) Private buying has a shorter procedure to follow while public buying follows a longer complex 

procedure.  



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c) Private buying follows organization policies but in public buying, there are standard policies that 

every company should follow.  

d) Public buying is concerned with supporting values and services to the general population while 

private buying is profit oriented. 

These differences is what Basheka (2013) calls for an urgent need to build consensus on the rules and 

procedures that must be followed universally for various methods of public procurement in both 

developed and developing countries. Since there is no consensus between public and private 

procurement agenda; it means procurement is not a pure science but its’ an art and science. 

 

5. Conclusion 

Through the paper review, the researcher concludes that public procurement is an art and science because 

it’s both a theoretical field and an area of practice. The theoretical field (art) is concerned with the 

teaching or academic study while the practice (science) deals with the day to day activities of procuring 

and disposing entities. Although some scholars have pointed out that public procurement is integrative 

in nature; because it borrows from other disciplines like public administration and quantitative methods; 

this alone is not enough in enabling our understanding of public procurement since some approaches, 

values and assumptions in public administration/management are treated differently. These knowledge 

gaps therefore open room for scholars to conduct empirical study among procurement researchers, 

lecturers and practitioners in relation to the field procurement should belong so as to have consensus as 

it was done with procurement meaning (procurement is about acquisition of goods/supplies, services 

and works). 

 

6. Recommendations 

There is need to ensure that procurement officials meet high professional standards for knowledge, 

practical implementation and integrity by providing a dedicated and regularly updated set of tools for 

instance sufficient staff in terms of numbers and skills; and recognition of public procurement as a 

specific profession. 

There is need for public procurement scholars to agitate for procurement course to be named science as 

it’s done in some universities and need for universalization of procedures so as to limit the challenges 

of; lack of agreement regarding the methods of studying public procurement and the conclusions 

arrived at; lack of ability to conduct experiments on the behavior of man in the public procurement 

process; and our lack of continuity in the development of public procurement research. 

Finally, the author recommends that public procurement needs to be autonomous so that the functions 

are clearly defined and independent like Inspectorate of Government (IG), Uganda National Roads 

Authority (UNRA) and Uganda Investment Authority (UIA). This will reduce the misunderstanding of 

the roles between the Accounting Officer who could be having less procurement knowledge because of 

the academic background and the Procurement Head who has full knowledge of procurement and 



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sometimes more qualified than the Accounting Officer.  

 

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