Antecedents of supplier selection decisions in the public sector in Nigeria

Purpose - This paper aims to develop and test a conceptual model of supplier selection decisions in the public sector. The study seeks to determine the relative importance of a broad range of non-economic variables in explaining supplier selection decisions during strategic organizational purchases. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from a national sample of 341 senior staff and top management team (TMT) members in 40 public sector organizations in Nigeria by using structured questionnaires. Findings - Results of structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis shows that government policy requirements, social ties of organizational actors, party politics, decision-makers’ experience and the perception of instrumental ethical work climates are the most important determinants of strategic supplier selection decisions, followed in a descending order of importance by the perception of rules ethical work climates, self-enhancement personal values, CEOs’ structural position, self-transcendent personal values and the perception of time pressure. Findings also indicate that the choice of a supplier per se is not an important determinant of organizational performance. Originality/value - No prior study has brought together, in a single model, the broad range of variables employed in this study with a view to exploring their relative importance in explaining public sector supplier selection decisions in a non-western country context. The findings of this study have implications for Marketing Managers looking to do business with public sector firms in emerging markets.