Abstract
Public sector laboratories play a bigger role in governments which goes beyond the specimen and laboratory samples. Governments that participate in technical and specialised areas need to have access to expert advice and technical information sources. This is usually provided by state laboratory scientists who also shape policy decisions. Several important tasks, such as sanitation and environmental regulation, public health, and forensics, need the collection of data through specialised scientific means. The same goes for the more traditional tasks, such as the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure. All these important government functions require more specialised data than what was available in the past. In response to these new requirements, governments have created and funded laboratories to assist with the collection of the required data. To ensure credibility and to demonstrate competence, all laboratories, including public sector laboratories, are required to implement and get accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 as this provides laboratories with a way of assuring the quality of the results and services produced. Public procurement policies advocate for the use of competition among suppliers to improve efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery whereas total quality management systems prefer using a smaller group of reliable suppliers to ensure quality and consistency. This study was born out of the interaction of public procurement regulations and ISO/IEC 17025 system requirements. This study utilised a mixed methods approach to identify the key success factors and challenges to efficiency in public procurement, to understand the role of quality management and supplier relationship management in public procurement and, using a literature review and a case study, evaluated the gap between the practices in laboratories and the requirements of supply chain quality management. From the interview data, an ontology of key success factors and challenges to efficiency in public procurement was created. The study then used SPSS Amos to create a Structural Equation Model for the challenges to efficiency. The research revealed some deficiencies in how quality management and supplier relationship management are utilised in public procurement in South Africa, the influence of various public procurement regulations on the implementation of ISO/IEC 17025 and other best practices and the gap between current laboratory practices and the requirements of supply chain quality management. The findings of this research reiterate the difficulty in making policies that accommodate different sectors and the importance of making flexible policies that are receptive of best practices in different sectors.