Int. J. Procurement Management, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2009 25 Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. E-procurement in services: the lagging application of innovation Arash Azadegan* Department of Management College of Business, MSC 3DJ New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA Fax: 215–243–7173 E-mail: azadegan@nmsu.edu *Corresponding author Bryan Ashenbaum Department of Management The Richard T. Farmer School of Business Miami University Oxford, OH 45056, USA Fax: 513–529–2342 E-mail: ashenbb@muohio.edu Abstract: E-procurement packages hold great potential to streamline processes and reduce purchasing costs. Interestingly, there appears to be a significant lag in the adoption of services e-procurement packages vis-à-vis goods e-procurement packages. A review of the extant literature on services e-procurement suggests the following four-category schema: (1) articles focusing on application service providers (2) articles focused on application users (3) articles focused on spend categories, and (4) valuation and viability studies. This schema is then used to frame a discussion of possible explanations for this observed lag in the adoption of an innovative and beneficial technology. Keywords: electronic procurement; e-procurement; service procurement; service innovation. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Azadegan, A. and Ashenbaum, B. (2009) ‘E-procurement in services: the lagging application of innovation’, Int. J. Procurement Management, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.25–40. Biographical notes: Arash Azadegan (PhD, Arizona State University) is an Assistant Professor at the College of Business at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA. His research interests include creativity and innovation across firm boundaries and the effects of service and design outsourcing on performance. He has over ten years of combined managerial and technical experience with Quaker Oats, Ford Motor Company, Ralston Purina and Fortune Brands. His work has been presented at the Academy of Management Conference, ISM-North American Research and Teaching Symposium and POMS. His other publications have been published or are in press with the Journal of Supply Chain Management, International Journal of Operations and Production Management and Journal of Procurement and Supply Management.