E-Procurement Readiness Assessment in Hospitals: A Novel Hybrid Fuzzy Decision Map and Grey Relational Analysis Approach

Mohammad Reza Rouhani-Tazangi; Benyamin Feghhi; Dragan Pamucar

doi:10.31181/sdmap21202523

Authors

Mohammad Reza Rouhani-Tazangi Department of Industrial Engineering, Fouman Faculty of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6343-5077
Benyamin Feghhi Department of Industrial Engineering, Fouman Faculty of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8042-955X
Dragan Pamucar Department of Industrial Engineering & Management, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8522-1942

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31181/sdmap21202523

Keywords:

E-Procurement, E-Readiness, Hospital, Grey Relational Analysis, Fuzzy Decision Map, Critical success factors

Abstract

E-procurement systems provide many opportunities to improve supply and procurement activities in the healthcare sector. However, their implementation deals with failure in several cases. Accordingly, adequate preparation is quite necessary at the pre-implementation stage. In this research, a holistic framework has been developed to evaluat e-procurement readiness in hospitals. Critical success factors in the implementation of e-procurement systems are explored based on the literature and experts’ opinions. Twenty-six critical success factors have been identified and categorized across five dimensions: management, technology, process, human resources, and environment. Also, the most influential factors on the hospital readiness for successful implementation of the e-procurement system are characterized. The most important factors are identified using Grey Relational Analysis (GRA). The cause and effect relationships and the interplay among the factors are investigated by adopting a Fuzzy Decision Map (FDM) approach. To evaluate the proposed framework in practice, it is applied to a case study of a specialty hospital located in Tehran, Iran. This research, along with the development of readiness assessment literature in terms of theory and methodology, provides a valid tool to be applied at the pre-preparation of e-procurement systems.

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