Improving the practices of green procurement of minor items

Green procurement in companies is supported by a number of formal elements such as environmental policies and systematized environmental efforts. Studies show that the way in which employees actually work, their practices, influences the implementation of formal elements. Based on a case study, the practices of the purchasers in seven subsidiaries of a Nordic electricity producing company are analyzed. The analysis addresses the changes in practices due to changing the green procurement procedures of the company. The subsidiaries have similar procedures and policies but different procurement practices. The case is focused on the procurement of minor items; all products that are not directly transformed into the product produced by the company, for example cleaning detergents and office supplies. Previous studies have shown that the procurement of minor items is less likely to be influenced by external actors as there is a limited supply chain focus on these products. For the individual company, the minor items might not have a significant environmental impact, but this type of product is bought by most companies and organizations and thereby the total amount adds up. A theoretical approach of organizational learning and practice is applied to understand the occurrence of these differences and also to highlight new perspectives on the challenges in establishing green procurement in organizations. The analysis shows that changes in the purchasers' practices are not as much dependent on whether they understand, e.g., policies, tools and procedures, but rather a matter of whether the purchasers actually put their knowledge into practice. Green procurement is a habit that forms part of everyday practice and not something that the purchasers deal with separately; it cannot be seen as a separate form of knowledge. Therefore green procurement needs to be adjusted to the existing procurement practices.