E-Procurement Technology Helps to Combat Corruption
May 1, 2017
An article in Forbes looks at the ways electronic procurement can increase transparency and cut down on corruption. Aside from increasing efficiency, the article notes that e-procurement can often open government markets to more vendors, and help bring down costs. “The metrics for the success of...
Improving Public Sector Purchasing – A Global Perspective
Apr 27, 2017
While slightly dated, this article strikingly highlights many of the critical practice improvement areas needed in public procurement (along with a comparison to the private sector) – the same practices recently highlighted by members of the Global Public Procurement Leaders Exchange. In...
Achieving “Best Value” in Procurement and Contracting – Practical Strategies You Can Employ Today
Apr 27, 2017
While “best value” is a very broad term with imprecise meaning, this position paper from NIGP takes a leadership oriented view on the notion of “best value”, what factors may drive it and most importantly, how to orient your organization toward achieving it. It is not necessarily a...
Public Procurement of Innovation – Case Studies from the EU
Apr 27, 2017
This report from the Procurement of Innovation Platform from the European Union (EU) provides specific perspectives and guiding principles on procuring innovation (and achieving an innovation orientation) in a public procurement context.
In addition, several case studies from public entities...
Aligning Procurement Capabilities and Value – What is Truly Required?
Apr 27, 2017
Broadly speaking, this report from CIPS Australasia and The Hackett Group provides a detailed perspective on aligning procurement capabilities with desired outcomes. More specifically, the report provides detailed perspectives on the differences between the elements of procurement value,...
Five Key Elements That Frame The Role Of Public Procurement and the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO)
Apr 27, 2017
NIGP provides solid perspectives on the role of the public procurement function and how procurement’s overall positioning and the authority of the Chief Procurement Officer are cornerstones of supporting how well the procurement function can deliver against the organization’s mission.
What are...
Procurement as a Part of Public Organization Strategy and Planning
Apr 21, 2017
The National Public Procurement Policy Unit of Ireland provides an example of the criticality of procurement planning at the heart of public organization planning.
Many procurement leaders emphasize that the role of procurement include strategic planning in collaboration with internal customers and...
Procurement of Professional Services – Three Reasons Why the Public Sector Uses Consultants
Apr 3, 2017
We threatened recently to run a series on buying professional services in the context of public sector organisations and buyers. That came about in part through a report that identified spend by central government in the UK on consultants was rising again after some years of decline.
Let’s make a...
Why Should We Care About The Public Procurement Workforce?
Feb 27, 2017
Nearly any expert you talk to in government procurement will tell you that the workforce needs more support and better training. But why? What makes the public procurement workforce so important to the work of government? In this excerpt from our study on public procurement skills, we look at why...
Defining the Outcomes and Roles of Public Procurement
Feb 27, 2017
Over the course of our study of public procurement skills, we talked with nearly 50 leaders in the public sector about what they thought the desired outcomes for public procurement—and the role of the procurement function within the larger organization—should be.
Full Article: Public Spend...
How Is the Public Procurement Workforce Performing?
Feb 27, 2017
As part of our study of public procurement workforce skills, Public Spend Forum interviewed 31 procurement leaders and asked them to rate the public procurement workforce’s proficiency in 12 core skills, based on their experiences and interactions. They were also asked to explain their rating and...
Commercial Practices in Category Management: The Need for Integration
Feb 23, 2017
Category management is more than just setting up categories, appointing lead buyers to category managers, and then calling it category management. This article discusses the need to have an integrated category management function into the procurement function, and how to be successful...
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Policies and Regulations
It’s no surprise President Trump has been systematically dismantling President Obama’s executive orders, since taking office. Obama himself knew it was a possibility: Frustrated by …
Past performance is an important step in being successful as a federal government contractor. Once firms get into the mid-tier range, they normally have amassed …
A few months back, we published several articles about the very interesting – and somewhat shocking – court case around the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning …
Perspectives and Insights
I have been interested in the question of getting successful commercial companies, especially tech companies, to sell to the government from the time I was …
The Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act of 2017 (S. 651), introduced by Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., is yet another example of a …
Think you know all about public sector owned professional buying organisations (PBOs) and what they do? Here are ten interesting facts that might just surprise …