Managerial Impacts of Requirements Development in Public Procurements : A Case Study at Trafikverket

This study aims to explore how the formulation and representation of requirements affect the quality of public procurements in Sweden. The study was conducted at Trafikverket, the Swedish transport administration, which plans and sustains infrastructure in Sweden, mainly roads and railroads. Requirements engineering theory, project management principles and the Swedish law of public procurements (LOU) has been used in combination with a series of interviews with experienced individuals in public procurement to draw further analysis. The study indicates that the quality of public procurements is negatively affected by requirement categories which are difficult to quantify, in practice making price the most utilised supplier evaluation tool by public procurers. Furthermore, procurements of complex projects require more extensive utilisation of tendering methods which facilitate communication between the supplier and the procuring entity, in order to constructively develop an accurate requirement specification. Such methods exist in the frame of LOU but are currently underutilised. In order to learn and sustain knowledge of new procedures, public organisations need to invest resources into recruiting and sustaining these types of skills