Development of Purchasing Groups during Their Life Cycle: From Infancy to Maturity

Increasingly, public sector organizations collaborate to buy products and services. They collectively form purchasing groups to deliver more value for money. What is the progress of these small-scale developments of public sector purchasing groups to date, in the early phases of their life cycle? Although previous research provides general descriptions of life-cycle phases, little attention has been paid to detailed small-scale developments that take place within each life-cycle phase. As a result, little knowledge is available about small-scale developments of purchasing groups. More insight is important in order to better understand how purchasing groups can develop over time from one life-cycle phase into another. Three in-depth case studies from different countries off er a unique comparative overview of smallscale developments in these early life-cycle phases for their five dimensions. Most small-scale problems follow a predictable path, but the way in which the purchasing groups deal with such problems differs depending on the specific situation of the group.