Ash Bedi

State and local governments use cooperative purchasing agreements to speed up procurement, leverage the buying power of government as a whole, accomplish more with fewer resources, and find the best suppliers. However, researching and finding the right coops can be challenging and time-consuming. A key challenge government procurement professionals have mentioned to us is that […]

In our definition, total cost not only accounts for prices paid, but also other factors that drive costs. A simple example that everyone can relate to is printers. The price of a printer (and improvements in that price from competition for example) is only one factor in gauging cost performance. Other factors include identifying appropriate […]

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 applicability to the acquisition at hand to maximize value from pricing. In […]

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 changing context of demands placed on public procurement, this report […]

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.    The framework ultimately defines specific competencies by role along defined dimensions. Full Case […]