This research investigates implementation feasibility and challenges of e-procurement platform in Iran. In order to do so, it reviews the literature regarding e-procurement implementation challenges in in general. Thereafter it looks into key important figures which have direct or indirect influence of the success of this platform. Indicators such as population age, population distribution and number of internet users are discussed to support the hypothesis that Iran presents strong potential for an e-procurement platform. The literature review indicates most of implementation challenges are similar to those reported in other countries, however there is a few critical national factors which are identical to Iran. Analysis of key figures proves although the environment seems to be ready and it is feasible to implement an e-procurement platform, challenges have to be considered and solutions to deal with them should be planned in advance.

1. E-procurement platform implementation
feasibility study and challenges
A practical approach in Iran
Authors
Meysam Maleki
Mahmoud Karimi
Haniyeh Reyan
Virgilio Cruz-Machado
International Conference on Management
Science and Engineering Management (2016)

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Agenda
• E-Procurement
• Global e-procurement platform providers
• Research hypotheses
• Discussion of research hypotheses
• Findings
• Challenges
• Recommendation for a successful lunch of e-procurement
in Iran

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E-Procurement
The term e-procurement refers to the use of electronic communications to deal
with business process between sellers and buyers. In other words, it can be
defined as the B2B purchase and sale of supplies over the internet.

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E-Procurement Platform Providers
Source: Gartner (Magic Quadrant for Strategic Sourcing Application Suites, February, 2015)

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Research hypotheses

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Distribution of Big Buyers
Distribution of 400 top Iranian companies among provinces
About 97% of big buyers are located in 5 provinces (Iran has 31 province in total)

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Internet users per 100 people
(From 2000 to 2014)
Source: World Bank Group (access date: Jan 11, 2016)
Iran is classified under
the “upper middle
income” category

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Population age
(the age group from 15 to 64)
Source: World Bank Group (access date: Jan 11, 2016)

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Population distribution
Population 80 Million
Area 1,648,195 m2
GDP 419.643 billion $ (29th)

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Population pyramid
World (2016): 7,432,663,000 Iran (2016): 80,043,000
Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision.

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Challenges & Key Advantages
E-Procurement challenges E-Procurement key advantages
1. Implementation costs
2. Deficient infrastructure
3. Lack of interoperability
4. Lack of business processes and
workflows
5. Insufficient e-procurement
solutions
6. Resistance of middle-managers
1. Competitive price
2. Reduction of procurement cycle time
3. Reduction of administrative expenses
4. Transparency
5. Reduction of operating costs
6. Reduction of tied up capital
7. Reduction of stock
8. Increase accuracy of decisions
9. Prevention of corruption attempts
10.Expanded network of suppliers
11.Access to trade history of buyers &
suppliers
12.E-Attestation
13.Early execution of tasks (i.e. delivery
of goods)

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I. Involvement of big buyers boosts the growth rate of
the platform.
II. The UI & UX of the developed platform has to be
adjusted to the usage and application taste of users.
III. Geographical segmentation approach in marketing
increases the penetration rate.
Recommendation for a successful
lunch of e-procurement in Iran

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Business findings
 International practical contribution: Providers of e-procurement
platforms such as Zycus, SynerTrade, SAP Ariba, Vortal, etc has
demand for their products to fulfill in this market.
 National practical contribution: Providers of e-business solutions
in the country such as SystemGroup, Rayvarz, TeamYar, etc has the
national demand to develop their e-procurement solutions.
 Managerial contribution: It is recommended to managers in the
country to transform their traditional procurement systems into an
e-procurement platform in order to benefit from e-procurement
advantages such as: faster processes, less papers, transparency, cost
reduction, and mitigation of financial corruption.

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THANK YOU!
Questions & Comments

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Meysam Maleki / UNIDEMI, Faculty of Science and Technology,
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal (Maleki@fct.unl.pt)
Mahmoud Karimi / Simorgh Investment Group, Tehran, Iran
(M.Karimi@simvest.ir)
Haniyeh Reyan / Arian Saeed Industrial Group Incorporation, Tehran,
Iran (H.Reian@yahoo.com)
Virgilio Cruz-Machado / UNIDEMI, Faculty of Science and
Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
(VCM@fct.unl.pt)
Authors