The utilization of microcomputers in state and local government purchasing: An empirical assessmen

Purchasing is a significant part of public management today. In the decade of the 1980's, state and local governments faced considerable problems in controlling their budgets. It was thought that by improving the process of public purchasing, state and local governments would be able to regulate their budgets more efficiently.;The microcomputer was perceived as an essential tool for enhancing public purchasing functions during the 1980's, but the widespread and rapid adoption of microcomputers in public purchasing has not been accompanied by sufficient research about how and why they are used.;The central inquiry of this study is to investigate the role of the individual, organizational, and environmental variables in the use of microcomputers in public purchasing. A microcomputer utilization model was developed for this purpose. The theoretical model and statistical analyses were designed to provide a systemic explanation of the practice of microcomputer-assisted public purchasing functions.;The model was tested by the use of survey research. The data was collected by a mail survey of purchasing officials of state and local government agencies in the South. The questionnaire was designed to measure their attitudinal perceptions and gather factual information about the role of the individual, organizational, and environmental variables in the use of microcomputers in public purchasing.;Hypothesis testing revealed the independent variables which were significantly related to increased utilization of microcomputers. Among the individual variables, prior exposure to microcomputer and training were found to be statistically significant. Only consultancy was found to be significant among organizational variables, and only availability of software was significant among environmental variables. The hypothesis testing indicated that since microcomputers are physically available to seventy five percent of the purchasing officials, the budget constraints do not play a determinant role regarding the accessibility of microcomputers (because microcomputers are already accessible).;The statistical significance of the independent variables prior exposure, training, consultancy, and availability of software rather than educational level, budgets, and work environment indicate an unexpected but coherent pattern--a pattern indicating that microcomputer utilization among purchasing officials has reached a more mature, sophisticated level than indicated in earlier studies.