Purpose Increasing the share of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in public procurement through targeted support policies is often fraught with organisational and institutional challenges as can be seen from the experiences of many developed countries. This has profound implications for emulating such policies in developing countries where administrative capacities may be low for efficient policy management. The purpose of this paper is to widen the canvass of SME procurement policy discourse by exploring a developing country context. Design/methodology/approach The study provides qualitative assessment using insights from policy implementation-related theories. Due to limited reporting of target data on SME participation in India, the study conducts analysis based on key informant interviews with 20 public sector enterprises. Findings The evidence drawn from India mainly shows uneven performance among the procurers in achieving the SME procurement targets, and reveals serious policy implementation shortcomings. These findings correspond and complement the earlier studies on SME procurement in the developed world. The Indian case additionally reveals barriers which may be common to other developing countries such as the lack of policy-administrative capacity compounded by the prevalence of “efficiency syndrome” on the part of procurers. Originality/value By providing an in-depth developing country-specific assessment, the study helps informing assumptions underpinning SME-oriented procurement policies. The study, therefore, fills a gap in the literature on SME-oriented public procurement policy-making and its execution.

The procurement decision-making process for complex military product systems (CoPS) has significant implications for military end-users, suppliers, and exchequers. This study examines the usefulness of adopting a fast and frugal decisionmaking approach for the acquisition of military CoPS. Defence procurement environment is complex. On the one hand, there are uncertainties and severe resource constraints due to regularly changing threat perceptions, limited flow of information about new technologies, and the growing demand to reduce defence related expenses. On the other hand, several stakeholders remain preoccupied with the demand for 'zero-error' technologies. In such a setting, recurrent cost overruns and delays in supply are common in defence procurement programmes, across countries. Taking the illustrative examples of the missile system, fighter jet, and radar system acquisitions in India, we elucidate on 'optimising' versus 'satisficing' dynamics in the procurement decisions. The paper argues that a fast and frugal decision-making process by relying on judgement, experiential knowledge, and intuitive learning might make procurement processes, adaptively, more efficient. Such an approach would enable a 'good enough' technology to be inducted, and improved upon, through regular feedback from the actual environment. The study has implications for policy scholarships on innovation policy instruments under uncertainty.

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