Status and prospects of e-procurement in Greek shipping

This paper reports the results of a research work addressing the current state and prospects of e-procurement implementation in the industry-dominant Greek shipping market, through the development, application and analysis of a poll-based survey. The results indicate that both shipping companies and marine suppliers recognise the benefits that e-procurement entails, in terms of reduction of purchasing costs, market accessibility, and enhancement of purchasing flexibility, although issues relevant to transaction mistrust, security and legality appear to currently hinder its potential for expansion. Overall, the results suggest that e-procurement will shortly become an important part of the maritime supply chain, mainly in response to the continuous demand of Greek shipping companies to reduce operating costs, although there is also evidence of their characteristically 'conservative' approach in generally adopting and utilising only the steadily and reliably evolved and tested technologies and derived services.