Influence

According to institutional theory, structures, norms and rules and how practices become resilient and legitimised as guidelines for acceptance of the organisation by its

environment, are factors seen as critical to success and survival, than a desire for efficiency and effectiveness. Organisational processes are institutionalised through influence by individuals or institutions, leading organisations to adopt similar structures,

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strategies and practices. Collectively these pressures are referred as isomorphic pressures due to different organisations engaging in similar behaviours to achieve legitimacy,

thereby becoming more similar over time or adopting similar structures, strategies and practices (DeVaujany et al. 2014; Doherty, McConnell & Ellis-Chadwick 2013; Kauppi 2013; Krell, Matook & Rohde 2016; Meehan, Ludbrook & Mason 2016).

The influences on the seven councils can be considered to be impactful from four different sources: (i) The state LGActs and the prescribed actions, (ii) State local government

associations, (iii) Other councils in the respective state and (iv) Community stakeholders. The research has shown no interconnection of councils across states, rather an isolation position in their respective state.

(i) The NSW and Victorian LGActs prescribe actions of open tender being above a specified monetary threshold. There is limited guidance outside these prescriptions. The SA Act has no threshold value and councils are left to self-determine tender process.

(ii) The local government associations (LGA) relative to each state36 _provide advocacy processes on a membership fee basis. The NSW and SA LGAs and MAV in Victoria all provide procurement best practice and documentation templates inclusive in the membership fee. A contradiction exists between advocacy and commercial activities through provision of procurement consultancy (fee-for-service): Golf 3 – ‘why we're bringing in LGP to undergo a consultation consultative approach’. In addition, the NSW, SA LGAs and the MAV all operate shared services (Refer 6.6.4) for volume tender requiring a commission up to 2% of invoice value. ‘There is a commission to be paid ranging somewhere from half to about 2 percent depending on what it is’. The contradiction aside, all seven councils use shared service volume tenders. The SA LGA was very influential in the adoption and assimilation of Vendor Panel as a specialised council e- Tender TMP (Table 14 - Adoption of e-Tender through a TMP). A question of continuing influence can be raised in the current commercial activity of

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the SA LGA, ‘can’t engage the LGA. The LGA doesn’t want to know about procurement’ (outside the commercial activity – sic). The contemporary degree of influence from the LGAs on the seven councils within

procurement is a variant from minimal to no influence (Table 26). A distinction is made between influence as a process of advocacy and consultancy being a commercial activity.

(iii) Partnerships or collective of regional councils - Councils operate in a singular environment across the three states. The boundary between a council association for the purpose of shared services and as a collective for enhancing procurement professionalism is unclear (Refer 6.6.4). Delta 2 refers to discussions with neighbouring councils, ‘looking across the sector in various conversations and discussions’.

Table 26 - Executive comments on LGA influence

Council Executive comments on LGA influence

Alpha Alpha 3-3, can’t engage the LGA. The LGA doesn’t want to know about procurement. (Outside the commercial activity – sic).

Bravo Bravo 3 - No not really. I mean we work closely with the LGA procurement group (for shared services – sic) but there's really no pressure as such imposed.

Charlie Charlie 3 –LGA will do research on behalf of local government (collective – sic).

Delta Delta 2 - It is looking across the sector in various conversations and

discussions. Did not mention the MAV (one of the 3 LGAs in Victoria – sic) as an influence.

Echo What impact or influence does the MAV have on your thinking? Any? Echo 1 – No.

Foxtrot Foxtrot 1 – Did not mention the LGP as an influence.

Golf Golf 3 –Engaging LGP to come in and tidy up our procedures from amalgamation (Consulting – sic).

Alfa 1-2 saw a requirement to develop a network of procurement professionals from interested councils, not necessarily neighbouring councils and comments:

“We've talked generally about procurement. It blew me away. How well off we are here. Some people have half a person. And, I actually asked what about your waste contract, haven’t got one”.

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This network has been in place for only a short period of time and no reflections of influence are available. Echo 2 refers to the regional procurement excellence networks (RPENS37_{) ‘absolute waste of space} really’. Discussing associations of council with Delta 1 ‘There is several council groups. The best one I've seen in Victoria by far is the southeast and they're all working together really well as shared procurement. There are at least five years ahead of us’. The council association Delta 1 was referring to is the same council association referred by Echo 2 (Table 27).

Table 27 - Council influence through associations

Council Council influence through associations

Alpha Alpha 1-3 - The Network procurement professionals, that’s the meeting I went to last week. They are quite progressive. And. Some of their aims is to well it's obviously to help all the councils and they're developing their own website so that all councils can access aide materials.

Alpha 3-3 - you've got Council Solutions. LGAP, LGAA all these groups you've got Procurement Australia it is all too many of them and they get confusing. Delta Delta 2 - we actively engaging in conversation with other sort of neighbouring

councils. Delta 2 – How do you really get serious about it?

Echo Echo 2-2 - They call them RPENs regional procurement excellence networks. And we happened to be in the southern region … it’s supposed to be procurement excellence, sharing ideas … a new life to be breathed into it. There have been a few retirements. In the last few months. So. Those people were fairly influential and fairly insular at the same time

Foxtrot Foxtrot 1 - with the ROCs you have bulk buying power, more services so these suppliers tend to sharpen their pencil in order to secure more councils rather than just the one … I understand there are benefits, again my experience is with (named), with a region of councils actually do better if they group together and say we are going to need.

(iv) The community impact on interviewees is detailed in section 6.5.4. External stakeholders are not within the boundaries of this research project.

Influence can be summed up through a section of the interview with Golf 3 who has an administrative officer as the sole incumbent in the procurement department. Golf 3 has a budget to engage consultants, ‘if I need procurement specialists I’ve got a budget to bring

37 _{RPENS and Special Interest Groups (SIGS) are a products of LGPro, an incorporated public company} and one of the three LGAs in Victoria.

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in’ (consultants – sic). This is not influence, it is consultancy, a commercial action.

Discussing the competitive position of the LGP, Golf 3 admitted ‘your right to some degree’ and went on to say:

“We have to make the decision (to engage consultants – sic) that whilst we don't want to have a procurement professional on staff at the moment and that's, this is just right at this very moment, we can bring in that expertise that have a very broad range across NSW councils as a whole”.

While councils have a logic of provision of community services within prevailing financial constraints, this would lead to an assumption procurement would have a similar

resemblance, which is not the contemporary position. In NSW and Victoria the statutes have prescribed positions requiring compliance and not determined as an influence. The LGA’s principal role is advocacy for council’s relationship to government while conducting commercial activities. Professional procurement through LGAs is a commercial activity and unless councils engage consultancy, the contemporary influence is nonexistent. While the SA LGA held a strong position of influence during the year of procurement in 2012 resulting in the pilot program for Vendor Panel with subsequent adoption and part

assimilation, this influence role has diminished (Table 27). The two Victorian councils take no influence from the three LGAs. While associations of councils exist in disparate forms, there does not appear to be any influence on procurement professionalism leading to increasing effectiveness (Table 28).