How European Tendering Legislation Affects Software Selection

European tendering legislation aims to enhance competitiveness by promoting equality, proportionality, transparency and non-discrimination. This legislation applies to the purchase of software packages by large public institutions. This study aims to clarify how this tendering legislation shapes software selection processes. By examining the selection of a strategically important software package at a professional service organization, this study provides initial evidence on how the decision-making process in software selection is affected by the tendering process in terms of the following dimensions: 1) juridification, 2) objectivity, 3) linearity, 4) formalization and 5) communication. The decision-making quality of this tendering process is evaluated from the buyer’s perspective against functional, economic and political norms of rationality. From each of these rationalities, the tendered software selection process results in losses as well as gains. A notable finding is that tendering does not exclude political manoeuvring, with power and influence practiced in other ways.