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Procurement staff will generally ( hopefully) receive a Scope of Work and perhaps some Evaluation Criteria from an internal client group.
They are often in the position of realizing that the Specification or Requirements are customized to fit one company or manufacturer.
What their next steps or conversations are is very important. Flushing out the truth and discovering whether it is intentional or accidental is relevant. Sometimes the RIGHT thing is actually a Direct Award with a Notice of Intent. Other times the subject NEEDS less Mandatories and more flexibility. WHAT is the conversation inside YOUR organization like in circumstances like these? This is where firm ethics and good relationships matter. Whether you are working your way up in an organization or already managing people, it is critical to understand and define Procurements role and influence.We want you all to do well on this final assignment due by 5:00pm (PST) THIS Friday – so please read the instructions carefully.
You are working on the Assignment already but I am sending this note to provide additional guidance.The 1st part requires (3) Mandatories – remember, phrase these as ‘the proponent must provide/have, etc.’ Mandatories work like a pass/fail switch and should be able to be answered by the evaluation team with a Yes they met it or No, they did not meet it. There should be no qualitative assessment (how good did they do?) with a mandatory requirement.
Pay attention to the 2nd part – 15/20 marks for this section.
We suggest that you copy the bolded assignment questions you are responding to into your response. This will keep your answers on point and discourage you from wandering off topic – which costs words and doesn’t earn points. You can delete the questions before submitting the assignment so you don’t use up your word allotment. Have fun and really put some thought into that 2nd part! Good luck to all
Good commentary on this unfortunate topic and I am glad you have differentiated between “Mandatory what”.
Mandatory Response Requirements at bidding time are really intended to be a filter or screen that properly qualifies Bidders.
At the heart of this case is the failure of the Town to know and articulate its own requirements.
This can often happen with outsourced services and long term incumbents where the Scope of Work is not maintained or updated.
Proper planning and trust between Operations staff and Procurement results in proactive analysis and strategy.
Bidding out a long term contract is often the best opportunity to say “do we still need this function” or ” that technology has changed” kind of questions.
To develop that information BEFORE it goes to market or becomes a court case is very important. Often people will say ” we didn’t have time to figure it out” however once you experience a nightmare result, that ” it will be fine” attitude changes.This case study describes circumstances that are unfortunately common.
With long term incumbents performing services, often there is a lack of understanding by the “Owner” when it comes time to develop Scope of Work. The procurement was not strategic from the start and it showed in the final results. Think things out and look at them from the Contractors perspective. This underscores the importance of early planning with Operations staff understanding their world and Procurement working closely with stakeholders.Good dialogue on challenges happening here with an emphasis on cost challenges and market volatility. All true and very disruptive to the economy and planning.Let’s diversify and broaden responses if possible.
I have not seen much about how public sector deals with the rise of Nationalism ( Buy Canadian) or Economic Protectionism ( Targeted Tariffs)
Many Canadian City’s and the federal government have been publicly stating they are changing their Procurement Policy’s to favor “Canadian” suppliers.”Buy Ontario”, is another example of that form of legislated protectionism that flies in the face of CETA, NAFTA and in some cases NWTPA.Some Questions for Replies – You will encounter this reality in your organizations so its good training to exercise the thinking.
What does this all mean for the basic principles of Public Sector Procurement we have established and been developing?
Are we in Canada still bound by Trade Treaties that are not being observed by others like the USA?Will Social Procurement and Sustainability initiatives that have finally gained traction in recent years, now be considered unaffordable or a luxury?
Taxes can only rise so high before citizen pushback.Good dialogue on challenges happening here with an emphasis on cost challenges and market volatility. All true and very disruptive to the economy and planning. Let’s diversify and broaden responses if possible.
I have not seen much about how public sector deals with the rise of Nationalism ( Buy Canadian) or Economic Protectionism ( Targeted Tariffs)
Many Canadian City’s and the federal government have been publicly stating they are changing their Procurement Policy’s to favor “Canadian” suppliers. “Buy Ontario”, is another example of that form of legislated protectionism that flies in the face of CETA, NAFTA and in some cases NWTPA.Some Questions for Replies – You will encounter this reality in your organizations so its good training to exercise the thinking.
What does this all mean for the basic principles of Public Sector Procurement we have established and been developing?
Are we in Canada still bound by Trade Treaties that are not being observed by others like the USA?Will Social Procurement and Sustainability initiatives that have finally gained traction in recent years, now be considered unaffordable or a luxury?
Taxes can only rise so high before citizen pushback.Welcome to your final week of PSPP 301! This week we still have some interesting discussions to explore and of course your final Assignment is due Friday 5:00pm PST. Keep up your energy level for a few more days.
Welcome to your final week of PSPP 301! This week we still have some interesting discussions to explore and of course your final Assignment is due Friday 5:00pm PST. Keep up your energy level for a few more days.
A comparison to this discussion might be if a Canadian City is a “Living Wage” employer.
Social Values is a critical factor is deciding to adopt that Policy.
Regarding, outsourcing labor, some organizations consciously choose to be part of the solution instead of the problem.
In other locales, that Policy comes with a cost unacceptable to the taxpayer and is not adopted.Linza you have provided constructive suggestions about Vendor Performance in the form of questions.
For a future post try to rephrase that type of information as suggestions or as a proposed approach. Its good thinking so utilize it.
Having said that, each of those items ARE procedural options for penalizing but they are all adversarial and worst case.
Consider some proactive, problem solving interventions to include in a list as they often correct Vendor Performance earlier versus cancel the contract.
Curiosity and continuous improvement mindsets are key attributes in the procurement world.Thanks for that reply Anny. No RFT’s means avoiding Contract A implications which is advisable for the majority of time.
Hello Laura,
Thanks for the introductory post, it was good to meet you yesterday.
Its great that you experience the entire spectrum of the procurement cycle.
Schools typically have a very tight time window for maintenance or construction during school breaks.
Do you coordinate with the Facilities staff and customize RFX scoring to emphasize Schedule?
Regards,
ChrisHello Dona,
Thanks for the introductory post, it was good to meet you today.
Two years of procurement experience with increasing complexity and building on an Operations background makes you very valuable to CSRD.
“Layering” knowledge and building expertise with confidential informed advice to guide is the best and safest way to learn public procurement.
Is there any one particular area of the procurement cycle / process you either enjoy or dread?
Regards,
Chris
