DSS requirements to support the regulated decision making process of public procurement

In recent times, managers have been faced with increasing levels of regulations which constrain their decision making and introduce unprecedented requirements for transparency and compliance. Public procurement, which is an important economic activity, as well as a powerful governmental policy tool, is one area where the level of regulation has reached unparalleled proportions with serious implications for decision makers and organisations. However, current literature does not offer an adequate discussion of public procurement as a decision making problem. This paper looks at public procurement in the context of Hungary to try and identify the implications of the European and Hungarian public procurement legal frameworks for decision makers and for developers of decision support tools. The paper concludes that public procurement creates a highly regulated setting for decision makers that goes well beyond simple constraints in how to select suppliers. This regulatory framework combined with the identified need to integrate with other procurement related IS tools such as E-procurement solutions place special requirements on DSS if they are to make a contribution in this highly regulated environment.