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The purpose of this paper is to scrutinise the characteristics of the relationship between large purchasing organisations (LPOs) and ethnic minority suppliers (EMSs) engaging with supplier diversity programmes and provide an assessment and developmental framework for such organisations.

Having considered an array of purchaser‐supplier relationship frameworks in relevant streams of literature, the paper draws on Lamming et al.'s framework to advance a tool for assessing and developing the relationship between LPOs and EMSs.

The submitted relationship assessment and development framework brings in sharp focus the characteristics of the relationship between LPO and EMS, providing a systematic way to examine the inter‐organisational context within which EMS development takes place.

The framework submitted could signpost future research in this field, which should take a longitudinal, processual approach. This is necessary to provide opportunities to examine the dynamics underlying the development of potent LPO‐EMS relationships in a variety of settings, including negative instances.

The paper has implications for corporate policy making and practice in this arena. Assessing the potency of LPOs‐EMSs relationships by applying the proffered tool can help both parties engage with supplier diversity, to develop fruitful relationships that enhance their competitiveness.

The latter can have social implications, as EMSs often operate in and employ people from disadvantaged communities.

The framework advanced in this article constitutes a novel tool that highlights the areas in which LPOs and EMSs should channel their efforts, in order to develop a potent relationship between them, which underpins the development of EMSs’ supply capabilities.

In 2000 the Skåne Region (a public authority) and a private contractor made a five‐year agreement for the provision of both in‐patient care and out‐patient medical services to about 30,000 inhabitants in the south‐east part of the region. The Skåne Region is the main provider of health care to about one million inhabitants in the south of Sweden and is responsible for all health care (private and public), including ten hospitals. This paper seeks to answer the question of how the Skåne Region can control and cooperate with a private contractor, entering into competition with the public health care providers in the region.

This is a longitudinal study conducted between 2001‐2006. It is based on 28 taped interviews with employees responsible for the contracting process, participating observations and comprehensive secondary material. The study presents experiences made by the contractor and the public authority on how to work out and follow‐up assignments within the health care sector regarding patient interest, public interest and professional medical interest.

Measurement within the frames of the balanced scorecard (BSC) made it possible to control both volumes and health care quality delivered by the private competing contractor. The political purchaser claims that the Skåne Region has established a cost‐effective and successful control system based on trust and measurement.

This paper reports on a control system, between public purchaser and a private provider within health care, that focuses on and follow‐up not only health care production but also health care quality.

Management development is increasingly perceived, marketed and sold as a wise investment rather than simply a socially good thing for industry to provide. The most powerful demonstration of its investment potential is perhaps available from the action learning models that Revans has pioneered most particularly in Europe especially in Belgium and the UK, but also in the Middle East, South East Asia and Australia.

Discusses and examines the relationship of major stakeholders in open learning within management development and the association of open learning with management development. Used a survey methodology to obtain information from purchaser and provider stakeholders. Interprets survey findings in written and graphical format to show the progression of open learning over the last ten years; the likely future progress with reference to the main technologies, media and trends; the factors most influential in the change in perception and utilization; and an identification of the advantages and barriers of open learning within management development. Discusses limitations along with the implications for future research. Concludes with an evaluation of the research findings and the presentation of a multiple stakeholders model of open learning in management development, which could be used for future research.

Competition is now widely used as the means of choosing the providers of essential public services in the USA and the UK. Many different approaches are found in the USA and there are useful lessons for the UK. With particular reference to mental health and substance abuse services, describes the effects of using competitive tendering on users, providers, purchasers and citizens and examines the problems of specification, transaction costs, the use of consultants, supply, the level playing field, trust, innovation, local accessibility and accountability. Ends with discussion of co‐operation and collaboration and the emergence of monopolies and integrated delivery systems in the USA and concludes by finding politics and political decision making of overriding importance.

The purpose of this paper is to use game theory and ambiguity theory to show how “economically rational” vendors will behave in a procurement process that runs over more than one period. In light of that behavior, we have proposed “economically rational” counter-strategies on the part of purchasers.

Based on a perception–expectation framework, a unique game-based approach is designed. The authors have proposed “economically rational” counter-strategies on the part of purchasers, which are premised on the theory of rational agency.

Ambiguity in the procurement process is a bane for procuring principals and a boon for suppliers – for the former, it is an issue to be managed, and for the latter it provides an opportunity to extract “insurance rents” from the principals. The authors show that, under certain conditions, the contracting principal can be exploited by a rational, rent-extracting vendor. In particular, they show that there is an incentive for a vendor to delay the resolution of ambiguities in the contract until late in the procurement process, when the insurance rents are at a maximum.

This study contributes to the current literature by highlighting an existing problem in the procurement process and describing it using decision theory under ambiguity in a game-like setting. Specifically, the authors use game theory in a unique way to deal with imperfect information coupled with ambiguity.

This study aims to investigate purchasing manager’s core competencies during supplier collaboration and explain the mechanism through which these competencies can affect purchasing firm’s innovative performance.

The authors conducted 22 semidirective interviews with managers in diverse functions such as purchasing, supply-chain management and product development across industries and across nations (mostly India and France), which allow to formulate the propositions.

Through open coding, the authors identify three path-dependent, causally ambiguous and socially complex core competencies of purchasing managers: relational and emotional, communicational and creative and cognitive competencies; and through axial coding, the authors explain how these intangible core competencies support implementation of market orientation. To provide supporting arguments for the propositions, the authors use the resource-based view of the firm and dynamic capability theory.

The first theoretical contribution of this study is focusing on the impact of competency–capability dyad in terms of performance. The second theoretical contribution of this study is to identify market orientation as a flexible and dynamic managerial capability.

The first managerial contribution is that the authors have identified and described three sets of a purchasing manager’s core competencies during supplier collaboration that affect the firm’s performance: relational and emotional, communicational and creative and cognitive competencies. The second managerial contribution relates to the mechanism through which purchasing managers’ core competencies during supplier collaboration affect firms’ outcomes.

The value of the results is in the explanation of the mechanism, i.e. market orientation dynamic capability, through which the competencies of purchasing managers can affect purchasing firm’s innovative performance.

This study examines unexplored horizontal accountability types between public, private and third sector actors within a hybrid organization. The case organization was applying a novel alliance model to generate service paths for heterogeneous clientele consuming cultural, educational, health and social services. It was first to do so in Finland.

This research is on a case study that used documents and interviews to examine the design of the horizontal accountability. The descriptive analysis focused on identifying what type of formal accountability system was designed (i.e. who is the account holder, and who is accountable and for what and why).

An imbalanced accountability system was identified because accountability obligations were unevenly distributed between public, private and third sector actors. The private sector was the most accountable for performance, and the third sector (i.e. voluntary sector) was the least accountable. As account holders, the public, private and third sector actors were judging their conduct as account providers. This created a biased horizontal accountability system. The hybrid's accountability system was dynamic because the contracts made to establish the hybrid included opportunities to change horizontal accountability if future changes to the external environment affect too drastically the potential to achieve the hybrid's goals.

Three new concepts are proposed for studying dysfunctional accountability systems: dynamic, biased and horizontally imbalanced accountability.

Based on research funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, looks at change in services for children and young people in difficulty and the implications for inter‐disciplinary working. The research is based on 80 interviews conducted with key individuals at local and national level. Describes and analyses the changes in health, social work, education and the Children’s Hearing system. Argues that the purchaser/provider split; local government reorganization and the Children (Scotland) Act will all affect collaboration in planning and service delivery for children and young people in difficulty. Identifies the potential problems and opportunities resulting from these changes and highlights the emerging issues relevant to provision of services.