Investigating cooperative purchasing performance: a survey of purchasing professionals in Dutch hospitals

Scarce evidence is available about the factors explaining the performance of cooperative purchasing. Case studies typically produced mixed findings regarding cooperative purchasing in healthcare. Our study supplements existing case studies by carrying out a quantitative survey study among 88 hospital purchasing professionals, experienced in cooperative purchasing. Our analysis shows a significant impact of trust and commitment in cooperative purchasing groups on performance. Effective IT systems support commitment, while group
formality and teamwork skills have a positive impact on trust. Many cooperative purchasing initiatives suffer from conflicts over the allocation of savings, time, and costs. We find that teamwork skills are essential for achieving trust and cooperative purchasing performance.