Antecedents of changes in an organization’s affiliation with group purchasing organization(s)

This paper focuses on the membership aspect of collaborative purchasing by examining the factors related to an organization’s decision to change its affiliation with group purchasing organizations (GPOs), the most commonly practiced organizational form of collaborative purchasing. Specifically, this paper empirically investigates the relationships among environmental conditions (i.e., market competition), organizational conditions (i.e., analytics advantage and collaborative linkage), and GPO change, building on strategic change and resource perspectives. Our results reveal that environmental and organizational conditions relate to the change in GPO membership and interactively affect its propensity. This study brings the membership aspect of collaborative purchasing to the forefront as a strategic decision area in the context of strategic purchasing. Given the lack of empirical research addressing GPO membership change, this study enhances our understanding of the nature of the membership aspect of collaborative purchasing. This paper also offers insights into strategic procurement decisions, as manifested in the change in GPO memberships.