Choose Your Level of Government
All Levels of Government
The Different Faces of Risk Aversion in Public Sector Procurement
Jun 9, 2017
At a recent meeting of the European Public Procurement Leaders Exchange we discussed the fact that in public procurement and government contracting, many staff appear to hold a risk-averse attitude.It is a generalization of course and we would never suggest that everyone in public procurement is...
Cooperative Buying Pays Off for Kansas City
Jun 6, 2017
American City & County looks at how Kansas City, Missouri found success through cooperative procurements. The city’s procurement division has won two Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Awards from the National Procurement Institute, and found that lean staffing and heavy workloads led to...
A Reflection on the UK Government’s Progress on Digital Transformation
Jun 5, 2017
As we approach yet another election, I began to reflect on the last but one occasion that the UK electorate had the opportunity to make its feelings known and create a new or at least different shaped government. More importantly, that the back-drop for the UK was a near bankrupt nation, created a...
Three Important Insights for Government Contracting from the Private Sector
Jun 1, 2017
Over the years, speakers at the Senior Supply Management Executive Summits hosted by Michigan State University have shared leading-edge ideas and effective strategies as well as defined challenges that remain to be addressed. Four common themes can be gleaned from the summits. And these themes...
Six Ways for Public Procurement Buyers to Get the Best Price
May 31, 2017
Competitive pricing is predicated on a keen understanding of a number of factors, including a market and its suppliers, internal user requirements and their demand patterns, and alignment with the user community. Several sophisticated techniques can and should be explored to determine their...
The False Promise of Scale in Public Procurement and Government Contracting
May 31, 2017
Procurement and acquisition professionals often struggle with the tradeoffs of “scale economies” versus “socio-economic goals.” The assumption derives from a false premise that bigger companies and bigger contracts inherently yield lower cost. But, that assumption fails to understand the...
Case Studies on E-procurement Implementation in the Public Sector
May 30, 2017
This report released by the Government of Australia Information Management Office provides a summary of the issues, key learnings and challenges associated with the five public E-procurement implementations that participated in the review of public E-procurement implementations. This information...
Defense Acquisition Reform Bill Wants to Create a Marketplace Like Amazon
May 19, 2017
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) has released his defense acquisition reform bill, which will be folded into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) later this year. The bill focuses on improving the Department of Defense’s purchasing of commercial items. According to Federal News Radio, “The...
Benefits and Uses for Technology in Public Procurement
May 17, 2017
NIGP presents an overview of the benefits and uses for technology in public procurement. Contextually, NIGP points out:
“As the procurement function of many public organizations is becoming more strategic, procurement technology allows for a process re-design that makes the procurement process...
The Institute of Supply Management’s Procurement Skills Model
May 17, 2017
The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) presents their detailed procurement competencies model.
While developed for the private sector, this procurement competencies model provides a useful frame of reference and a parallel for thinking about critical procurement competencies in the public......
Attracting, Retaining and Developing New Procurement Professionals
May 17, 2017
NASPO discusses how the increased demands on the public procurement work force (in large part driven by an improved positioning of the strategic role of procurement) requires enhanced skill sets. In addition to describing the changing demographics of the public procurement work force and the...
Case Study on Procurement Competencies Aligned by Role – Government of New Zealand
May 17, 2017
The Government of New Zealand shares how they have defined and implemented their procurement competency framework. This case study begins by defining the various roles with the procurement function, as well as their desired behaviors, core and technical competencies, and other attributes. ...
