Assessing transformative procurement maturity: A general framework using a fuzzy model

Digital transformation (DT) is imperative to improve co-ordination, collaboration, efficiency, and visibility of organizations in today’s complex global supply chains. Such transformations should be driven by the internal requirements of the organization and the expectations of external stakeholders. DT attempts may fail if not aligned with people, information, processes, and existing capabilities within the organization. Even though organizations intend to start their digitalization journey by transforming the procurement process, as it directly connects to cost, productivity, quality, and compliance goals of organizations, procurement digitalization readiness is an underexplored area compared to holistic supply chain maturity, indicating a gap in both research and practice. The main objective of this research is to spotlight the complexities related to procurement digitalization and develop a novel maturity model that combines the strengths of fuzzy logic with a comprehensive and generic maturity framework tailored for the systematic assessment of procurement function. A six-phase structured approach encompassing literature review, criteria validation, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) integration, survey execution, fuzzy model application and validation is used to develop a generic mathematical algorithm to assess DT readiness. Case studies across various sectors such as energy, banking, defense, manufacturing, healthcare, education, and construction demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed model in addressing vagueness in maturity investigations. Manufacturing industry demonstrates the highest readiness, in terms of adopting strategic approaches towards digitization and market innovation. Most sectors require significant improvement in supplier relationships, especially to utilize vast available information and manage risks proactively with advanced digital tools.