ASCI Connect

Executive Summary

Procurement functions are increasingly expected to deliver cost efficiency while simultaneously advancing sustainability, resilience, and social value outcomes. Despite widespread recognition of this dual mandate, procurement practice continues to frame cost and sustainability as competing objectives. This thesis investigates the origins of this perceived trade-off and argues that it arises not from economic inevitability, but from systemic design failures within procurement governance, performance metrics, and decision-making frameworks.

Drawing on systems thinking, ESG theory, public procurement literature, and design thinking, the research reconceptualises procurement as a dynamic socio-technical system characterized by feedback loops, behavioural incentives, and institutional constraints. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining survey data from procurement professionals with in-depth executive interviews to examine how procurement systems shape organisational behaviour and outcomes.

Empirical findings demonstrate that organisations relying predominantly on short-term cost KPIs experience higher levels of sustainability-performance tension, increased supply-chain risk, and reduced innovation. Conversely, organisations employing total cost of ownership metrics, supplier collaboration mechanisms, and systems visibility tools report improved long-term value outcomes without sacrificing financial performance.

The thesis contributes to theory by extending systems thinking into operational procurement strategy and integrating design thinking as a mechanism for system redesign. Practically, it provides procurement leaders and policymakers with a coherent framework for aligning efficiency and sustainability objectives through system coherence rather than trade-off management.

The research concludes that strategic procurement excellence depends less on optimisation techniques and more on leadership capability to design, govern, and adapt procurement systems over time. This reframing has significant implications for public sector procurement policy, infrastructure investment, and ESG governance across New Zealand and comparable economies.