Supply Chain in the Public Procurement Environment: Some Reflections from the Indian Railways

This paper provides analysis of supply chain management framework in the public procurement environment through a case study of the Indian railway. The paper provides some insights about the evolution of supplier relationship management and its impact on key performance indicators. Its also provides an integrative framework for management of public procurement. The paper builds on extensive review of literature and follows a case study methodology. The unit of analysis is the Indian Railway's material management function. Analysis uses data of over a period of five years. The finding highlights that supplier relationships with the Indian railway have been geared around arms-length philosophy. The current symptoms of inefficiencies are reflected in high cycle time, high costs associated with supplier selection process, poor accountability, blurring of responsibility and poor value creation for all the stakeholders. The current procurement mechanisms are not crafted around development of long term strategic partnerships. This study is filling the gaps in literature by presenting the challenges of supply chain management in the public procurement environment. Insights from developing country like India can be applied to other public procurement systems. The paper deals with sensitive issue of public procurement system. The findings would be useful for policy makers in developing mechanisms for instilling insights of business management into the realms of public management. The study is first of a kind to provide a conceptual framework for understanding building blocks of the supply chain management in the public procurement environment.