Intra-organisational influences in procurement networks controls: The impacts of information technology

This study is motivated out of a two-fold concern for how intra-organisational influences generally, and information technology specifically, impact upon control mechanisms in procurement networks. Utilising actor-network theory, the study examines two relational dimensions of procurement networks within actor-network space: inter-organisational relations between buyers and suppliers that comprise the procurement network and intra-organisational relations among actors within buyer organisations in particular. In doing so, the study addresses the inadequate consideration of intra-organisational influences in the literature examining the management control of networks. In addition, the study highlights the fluidity of inter-organisational control mixes, contrasting with prevailing notions of 'fit' between control mechanisms and a given transactional setting. Information technology is specifically focused upon because it increasingly mediates inter-organisational collaboration, yet its consequences are unclear and the extant literature in the area is formative. Thus, the study also contributes to extant understandings of the control effects of information technology within procurement networks.