A Buyer-Centric Study on the

Critical Success Factors in Public

Procurement:
A Case-study on E-government Implementation in
Myanmar

Aung Kyaw Oo
Technology Management, Economics and Policy Program
College of Engineering
Seoul National University

Abstract

It has already been known that some of the policy measures and success
factors to be pursued for the development of procurement practices in any
other developed countries are found to be easy in theory but difficult in
practice for the developing countries because of the intrinsic and unique
nature and heterogeneity existed among the developing countries. Issues arise
from unexpected corners while respective governments at all levels are
formulating and implementing the inclusive national- and ministry-level
Agenda for the development and deployment of procurement guidebook. As it

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is well-recognized among the scholars and practitioners, there is no panacea
and one-size-fits-all approach to handle the problems encountered in the
successful implementation of governmental public procurements.
Governments in every administrative level are buying technological
objects (e.g. hardware), office accessories, constructions and services (e.g.
software) from various private sources to fulfill the needs of citizens and most
importantly to accelerate and be productive and efficient in their routine and
services around-the-clock. In this dissertation, research is done upon the
procurement of web applications and any other stuff mentioned above by
various ministries and top-level administrative entities in Myanmar.
As much as seventeen high-level government departments and offices
from thirteen government ministries in Myanmar are evaluated based on their
procurement practices. A group of fourteen Critical Success Factors (CSF)
acknowledged and verified in the previous researches and literature are also
prioritized in accordance with those procurement contracts of the government
offices. A case study is carried out by differentiating the ICT procurement
undertakings from non-ICT sectors.
In this dissertation, a modified and advanced fuzzy analytic hierarchy
process (FAHP), also known as fuzzy synthetic extent analysis method
(EAM), is being applied together with the combination of survey
questionnaire, personal interviews and expert opinions.
The current research partly explores the factors influencing the
successful technology and non-technology procurement from a developing
country’s perspective. In addition, the interactions among the actors involved

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in the procurement process and the roles of institutions and organizations will
also be observed.
In the end, policy implications and recommendations are finally
drawn out and proposed to pave a pathway for future successful public
procurements in the respective government ministries and departments in the
Union of Myanmar.

Keywords: decision-making, fuzzy AHP, government, procurement,

success factors

Student Number: 2006-30684

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 Contents

Abstract………………........................................................... i

Contents………….………………………………………....iv

List of Tables………..……………………………………. vii

List of Figures………………………......…………………. ix

Chapter 1 Introduction….……………….............................. 1

1.1 Research Questions………...……………………………... 7

1.2 Structure of the Dissertation……………………...………...8

1.3 Contribution………………………………………………...9

Chapter 2 Previous Literature……….……………..………10

2.1 Procurement Taxonomy……………..………..…..………10

2.2 Partnership in Procurement………...……...……………...11

2.3 Procurement Policy and Innovation……………..………..12

2.3.1 Procurement Policies in Developing Countries……………...21

2.4 Critical Success Factors in Procurement………....….……24

2.5 Defining the Success Factors……..…...……….…………35

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Chapter 3 Model……………………….……………….….37

3.1 Methodology………..…………………………………….37

3.2 Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)……..………………...39

3.2.1 Sampling Size in AHP……………………..……..…………40

3.3 Comparison between AHP and others……..……….……..41

3.4 Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP)……...………..42

3.5 Proposed Model……………...……………………………47

Chapter 4 Empirical Research……….……………….……50

4.1. Procurement in Myanmar…………………...……………50

4.2. Data with Descriptive Statistics………..………………...56

4.2.1 Descriptive Statistics……………………………….………..60

4.3. Results and Discussion…………...………………………73

4.3.1 Confidence Interval of Composite Ranking

with AHP……………………………….………………...….77

4.4. Case Study: E-government Implementation in

Myanmar………………………….……………………....79

4.4.1. Framework of the Case Study……………………...….…...82

4.4.2. Case Study I: Purchasing a Web Application

based on Direct Contracting Method by the

Department of Meteorology and Hydrology……….…….…83

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 4.4.3. Case Study II: Buying Telecommunication

Systems on Direct Contracting Method by

the Myanma Posts and Telecommunications…………...…..93

Chapter 5 Conclusion and Policy Implications……......….104

Bibliography………...……………………………………113

Abbreviations……………………………………………..131

Appendix………………………………………………….134

(A) Survey Questionnaire.……...………………………...……...134

(B) List of Participated Countries in the Preliminary

Survey………………………………………..……………...150

(C) List of Government Ministries in Myanmar…………….......150

(D) E-government Readiness Ranking by the United

Nations (2004-2008)…………..…………………………….154

Abstract (In Korean)…………...…………………………156

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 List of Tables

Table 2.1 IT Vendor Management Paradigms…………...………………….11

Table 2.2 Features of Innovation Generating and Adopting
Organizations…………………………………...………………...14
Table 2.3 Comparison of Procurement Practices among the
Selected Developing Countries………...…………………………22
Table 2.4 Summarized Project Critical Success Factors from
Literature………………………………………...………………..29
Table 2.5 Attributes and Sub-attributes to be studied
in this dissertation…………………………………...……………34
Table 3.1 Previous Studies with Fuzzy AHP Methodology……..………….40
Table 4.1 Public Finance in Myanmar from (1980-81) to
(1999-2000)………………………………..............…………….51
Table 4.2 Participating Government Entities in Procurement Survey
and Case Study……………………………………………………53
Table 4.3 Distribution of Government Entities in the Survey and
Case Study (By Type)………………………...…………………..54
Table 4.4 Distribution of Government Entities in the Survey and
Case Study (By Region)……………………………...…………..55
Table 4.5 Comparison of Rankings of Some Selected Factors
in the Literature…………………………………...………………57
Table 4.6 Demographic Profile of the Respondents and
Interviewees……………………………………………..……….59
Table 4.7 Comparison of Rankings in Relative Weights
in Procurement Factors in Myanmar between
Classical AHP and fuzzy AHP………………..…………………61

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Table 4.8 Comparison of Rankings in Global Weights in
Procurement Factors in Myanmar between Classical
AHP and fuzzy AHP………………………………...……………63
Table 4.9 Comparison of Rankings in Relative Weights in
Procurement Factors in Myanmar between
Classical AHP and Fuzzy AHP with Different
Degree of Fuzziness………………………………..…………….67
Table 4.10 Comparison of Rankings in Global Weights in
Procurement Factors in Myanmar between Classical
AHP and Fuzzy AHP…………………...……………………….70
Table 4.11 Averaged Rankings in Global Weights in Procurement
Factors in Myanmar Compromising between Classical AHP
and Fuzzy AHP…………………………………………………..75
Table 4.12 Confidence Limit on Success Factors
(In Classical AHP)……………………………………………….77
Table 4.13 Installation of MPT Satellite Terminals in Myanmar……………96

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 List of Figures
Figure 2.1 Traditional Contractual Relationship………..…………………..21
Figure 2.2 A Framework Approach for the Project
Success Factors………………………...………………………...27
Figure 3.1 System Flow of the Proposed Model………………...………….38
Figure 3.2 The Intersection between M1 and M2 ………..…………….…….46
Figure 3.3 The Proposed Two-tier Hierarchy Model of
Critical Success Factors in Government Procurement……....…..49
Figure 4.1 Comparison of Criteria-wise Rankings between
AHP and FAHP (0.5) in Line Graph……………………...……..62
Figure 4.2 Comparison of Criteria-wise Rankings between
AHP and FAHP (0.5) in Column Graph………………...……….62
Figure 4.3 Comparison of Criteria-wise Rankings between
AHP and FAHP (0.5) in Bar Graph……………...………………63
Figure 4.4 Comparison of Rankings in Global Weights between
AHP and FAHP in Line Graph……………...…………………...66
Figure 4.5 Comparison of Rankings in Global Weights between
AHP and FAHP in Column Graph……………………...……….66
Figure 4.6 Comparison of Rankings in Global Weights between
AHP and FAHP in Bar Graph…………………...………………67
Figure 4.7 Comparison of Rankings in Global Weights between
Classical AHP and FAHP in Line Graph………………...……...71
Figure 4.8 Comparison of Rankings in global weights between
Classical AHP and FAHP in Column Graph………………..…..72
Figure 4.9 Comparison of Rankings in Global Weights between
Classical AHP and FAHP in Bar Graph……………….......…….72
Figure 4.10 Ninety-nine Percent Confidence Limit Chart for Mean
Rating of Success Factor (T1)……………………………….…78

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