As government responds to demands to become more efficient and effective, procurement professionals are expected to focus primarily on the strategic aspects of procurement and less on routine transactions. In reality, public procurement masks the ability of government to transform taxes and other revenues into consumption by government institutions at federal, state and local levels, ostensibly for the public good. Public purchasers are told by their professional institutions and their private sector peers to be more proactive and less reactive in order to add greater value to their organization. However, tradition has decreed that procurement processes are managed by "unglamorous individuals" (Stewart, 1994) who are required, first and foremost, to satisfy the complex accountability processes of the government, an administrative principle, which is reinforced by recent failures of corporate financial governance. Furthermore, a search of contemporary literature shows little evidence that public procurement has penetrated the theoretical boundaries of public management or strategic management despite the profession's efforts over more than a decade to develop its profile. This paper explores two contemporary dilemmas: the boundaries of public procurement within the context of public administration and the mask of public accountability, which impedes the integration of public procurement into public administration (PA) and strategic theory.

As government organizations step hopefully into a new century, among the challenges they face will be the demands of the "New Purchasing" and persistent pressure to redefine the role of the purchasing practitioner in government. Reengineering of purchasing activities was a constant feature of the 1990s in many government jurisdictions. Those who manage the function usually influence a large share of organizational expenditure and must also cope with the demands of e-commerce, devolution of responsibility, partnering and strategic alliances, and the implications of globalization within the context of an accountable public sector. Applying some theoretical, functionalist models of a profession, this paper seeks to establish professional credentials for purchasing practitioners.

Using some experiences in the USA, the United Kingdom and Australia, this paper illustrates the nature of some contractual challenges that can be expected to transform the sophistication of the procurement role in government to ensure the demands of public accountability continue to be met.

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