Table 2 Challenges of procurement practices in different procurement stages
Procurement stage | Generic category | Sub-category (data extraction) |
|---|---|---|
Planning and mapping | Need analysis | Difficult to meet the end-users’ needs Ethical issues regarding privacy Acquisition is not demand-centred Need analysis is not done systematically |
Requirement specification | Difficult to set functional requirements for design Specifying requirements requires skills | |
Market analysis | Difficult to select the right product and suppliers Procurement is not governed by end-users’ needs | |
Procurement | Economic resources | Lack of financial resources |
Standardisation | Lack of national strategy to implement welfare technology Lack of standardisation Lack of integration of welfare technology products Health care responsibilities differ between municipalities | |
Interoperability | Requirement for interoperability restricts the amount of suppliers | |
Implementation and management | Supplier assessment | Difficult to find a suitable supplier |
Cross-organisational collaboration | Need to hire external technical competence | |
Political strategy | Lack of political strategy |