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Although Croydon Libraries have been operating automated stock circulation and cataloguing procedures for some years, they took a management decision to delay automating stock acquisitions. Solutions offered during the 1980s failed to meet requirements in terms of stock control, electronic trading and cost benefits. Information technology (IT) innovations around manual acquisitions procedures enabled them achieve a high level of performance. By mid‐1995 it was thought that technological advances had made automation a viable option, and the demise of the Net Book Agreement (NBA) highlighted the cost‐benefits of electronic trading. The solution would be built around a bibliographic datafile (potential requirements datafile – PRD) with the acquisitions module seen as a station within an electronic trading network. It would have to replicate Croydon’s sophisticated clerical and accountancy systems, demonstrate cost benefits and have development potential and would need to be “stand‐alone”.

United States Air Force (USAF) acquisition programs have historically suffered from extended acquisition cycle times and cost and schedule overruns. Department of Defense senior leadership has called for "transformation" of the acquisition process. In this article, we investigate an Evolutionary Acquisition (EA) strategy and the spiral development process. This article presents the case study analysis of three USAF acquisition programs: Global Hawk, B-2 Bomber, and Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV). Data were collected through extensive literature review, interviews with acquisition experts from the three program offices, and completed questionnaires from members of Air Force Materiel Command’s (AFMC) Acquisition Center of Excellence (ACE), Aeronautical Systems Center’s (ASC) Transformation Team, and ASC’s ACE.

Acquisition is an essential element in Universal Availability of Publications. An extensive literature review and a questionnaire survey revealed that few countries have a national acquisition policy but that there are numerous examples of informal arrangements involving substantial numbers of libraries. Factors influencing the existence and nature of a national acquisition system include the level of national commitment to libraries, attitudes of libraries to co‐operation, and administrative responsibility for libraries. National plans must be geared to national needs and circumstances; systems may be centralized or decentralized (by subject or other features), and may be centrally planned or based on voluntary co‐operation. The National Library may have a critical role to play. Five possible models are: a centralized unit of first resort; a decentralized region‐based system; centralized national subject libraries; decentralized responsibilities; and a central collection of journals only. Each country can decide on the appropriate model for its situation and requirements.

The research, analysis, and documentation processes requisite to the design of an inhouse acquisitions system are reviewed. The initial concept document detailed system goals, institutional objectives and environment, acquisitions functions and system requirements. A subsequent specifications document detailed work flow, data elements, and related requirements. Documentation for the system was prepared, based on the concept and specifications documents. Figures detail the characteristics of acquisitions data elements and the logic path of an automatic vendor selection routine.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the decision process of enterprise software acquisition. The research aims to focus on identifying significant influences on enterprise software acquisition decisions.

As a research model and theoretical background, the organizational buying model (OBB) is proposed for the acquisition of enterprise systems. Influences on enterprise software acquisition decision processes were found by an empirical study carried out from a practitioner's perspective. The study collected data via a mail survey administered to information systems (IS) professionals involved in the acquisition of enterprise software (ES). The survey questionnaire was developed based on a previous research project and a literature review. Organizational buying behavior (OBB) models in the literature served as the basis for the influences included in the survey instrument. Factor analysis was carried out on the survey data to identify the most significant factors/influences.

The following five factors emerged as significant influences on the acquisition decision process of enterprise software: ES strategy and performance; BPR and adaptability; management commitment and user buy‐in; single vendor integrated solution; and consultants, team‐location, and vendor's financing. These factors are discussed and managerial implications are extracted. Conclusions are derived from the study findings and guidelines for further research are suggested.

The present study provides a starting point for further research in understanding a more comprehensive list of influences on enterprise software acquisition. A bigger sample from more industries is required to examine whether the significance of the influences remains stable.

Using OBB models has proven to be useful for organizations in making effective decisions on enterprise software acquisition.

The objective of this longitudinal case study is to study management control problems in corporate mergers and acquisitions. This is executed by analysing the post acquisition merger processes of two companies of equal size, but with different cultures and management accounting systems (MAS). It is argued that the MAS evolution in such a context may differ significantly from other types of merger and acquisition. The study examines how the new MAS developed after the acquisition. It is argued that goal ambiguity, cultural conflicts, unintended consequences, and dominant individuals play a crucial role in such a process. The study expands and deepens previous findings on MAS integration after corporate mergers, and management accounting change and continuity in general. After comparing the findings of the case study with earlier research, the analysis is expanded and deepened through structuration theory and goal ambiguity.

Federal agencies are relying increasingly on contractors to perform their missions. With hundreds of billions of tax dollars spent each year on goods and services, it is essential that federal acquisition be handled in an efficient, effective, and accountable manner. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however--as well as other accountability organizations, inspectors general, and the agencies themselves--continue to identify systemic weaknesses in key areas of acquisition. In fact, the acquisition function at several agencies has been on GAO's high-risk list, which identifies areas in the federal government with greater vulnerability to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. In January 2005, we added interagency contracting to this list. Far too often, the result of poor acquisitions has been an inability to obtain quality goods and services on time and at a fair price. We can no longer afford such outcomes. Given current fiscal demands and the fiscal challenges we are likely to face in the 21st century, the federal government must improve its ability to acquire goods and services in a cost-effective manner. GAO developed this framework to enable high-level, qualitative assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of the acquisition function at federal agencies. Such assessments can help senior agency executives identify areas needing greater management attention, and enable accountability organizations (including GAO) to identify areas requiring more focused follow-up work. The framework consists of four interrelated cornerstones that our work has shown are essential to an efficient, effective, and accountable acquisition process: (1) organizational alignment and leadership, (2) policies and processes, (3) human capital, and (4) knowledge and information management. The framework supports an integrated evaluation approach, but each of these cornerstones can stand alone so users of this framework may tailor evaluations to an agency's specific needs.

As a consequence of both limited funding and a desire to remain independent of any single supplier, the University of Lancaster Library is developing an integrated library package with software based on the Pick operating system. The first stage in the library's automation programme, an acquisitions system, went live in April 1987. This article presents an account of its implementation, and shows how wide participation in its development has resulted in various refinements and in swift acceptance by all levels of staff. A full description of the system is given, showing the day‐to‐day procedures involved and the unlimited enquiry potential provided by the Pick access language. The system is judged a great success, both on its own merits and as the First stage in the library's continuing automation programme.

For decades, cost growth in major military weapon system programs has been problematic. The result is a multitude of studies documenting internally focused causes of Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition cost growth and a spawning of acquisition reforms that have provided little relief to the problem. The missing components of these prior analyses are the larger economic and political factors that contribute to cost growth. This study analyzes cost growth in major DoD development and procurement contracts through a holistic political-economy construct including the effect of the political party of the President and Congress, and the liberal-conservative record of the Armed Services Committees. These political-economy constructs in both development contracts and procurement contracts are found to be more robust.