ABSTRACT
South West Electricity (SWEB) is in many ways similar to the Severn Trentcase. SWEB was slow to develop a highly professional approach to the purchasing function immediately after privatisation. This case illustrates that alack of focus can occur in privatised companies as well as in the public sector. After 1991, however, due to growing regulatory and competitive pressures, SWEB began to improve its approach to raising efficiency. This improvement-an increase in dynamic efficiency through functional professionalism—hasbeen further enhanced with the takeover of the company by US owners in 1995.
