The Procurement Process and Specifications
explanatory Essay
568 words
Procurement Specifications:
The procurement process usually requires crucial planning based on the complexity and size of the specific procurement. The process involves generating and reviewing requirements and specifications for procurement. Generating and reviewing these requirements and specifications is geared towards ensuring effective planning. The most appropriate process for generating and reviewing procurement specifications would include defining the outcome, defining specifications, identifying risks, researching the procurement market, and preparing a business case (“Guidance on the Mandatory Procurement Procedures”, 2005).
Defining the outcome is the first important step in generating and reviewing procurement requirements and specifications because it provides clear and precise description of what needs to be satisfied by the procurement and how it will be satisfied. The description of the outcome in turn helps in identifying the required product or service, the necessary quantities, and the delivery of the product or service. This is followed by defining specifi...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the procurement process requires crucial planning based on the complexity and size of the specific procurement. generating and reviewing requirements and specifications is geared towards ensuring effective planning.
- Explains that defining the outcome is the first step in generating and reviewing procurement requirements and specifications because it provides clear and precise description of what needs to be satisfied by the procurement.
- Explains market research plays a crucial role in this process since it provides insights on major potential suppliers and whether there is adequate expertise in the market to deliver the product or service with the expected outcome.
- Explains that the fourth step in the process of generating and reviewing requirements and specifications for procurement is identifying risks. the determination of risks has considerable effects on the objectives and outcomes of procurement.
- Explains that the final step in generating and reviewing procurement requirements and specifications is developing or preparing the business case.
- Explains that the product specification process requires gathering information that would lead to the identification of the required product or service.
Related
- analytical
- explanatory
- comparative
- opinion
- Request For Proposal - Social Media & GISanalytical essayBy definition, a Request For Proposal (RFP) document is a document that is created by a company or an agency with the mandate to solicit for procurement of a service, commodity, or valuable asset from a potential supplier through a bidding process (MacLean, 2012; Bennerotte, 2014). In response, the potential supplier submits a customized business proposal as per the format established by the company or agency or as per the accredited business format for RFP. This research aims at finding a proper RFP model to adopt in the development of a new Request For Proposal project.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that a request for proposal (rfp) document is created by companies or agencies to solicit for procurement of services, commodities, or valuable assets from potential suppliers.
- Opines that o'neil and dutta and rhee, fain, and emanuel have more content to use, but the recommended article is that of
- Concludes that the details to include in the request for proposal document have a significant impact on the scope of coverage and inclusion criteria adopted.
- Explains that the research was the initial step in the formulation of a concrete rfp, so it was critical to find reliable sources.
- Explains that the selection criteria for each article was based on a number of ideals. maclean (2012), o’neal and dutta (2013), rhee, fain, and emanuel (2013) were selected.
- Analyzes how the article provides a detailed description of the steps an agency or company seeking rfp services should take to ensure proper delivery.
- Analyzes how the article by o'neil and dutta (2013) is comprehensive in its scope. it clarifies its inclusion criteria including mbe, non-disclosure agreement, and ways to address conflict of interest.
- Analyzes how rhee, fain, and emanuel (2013) provide a comprehensive example of the business need being addressed coupled with the purpose of seeking rfp.
- Explains bennerotte's request for proposals for geographic information systems (gis) evaluation of capabilities and recommendations.
1295 wordsRead More - The United States Government Contract Bidding Processexplanatory essayThe United States Contract Bidding Process and Its Effect on the Readiness and Reliability of our Nation’s Military Communications Systems
In this essay, the author
- Explains the united states contract bidding process and its effect on the readiness and reliability of our nation’s military communications systems.
- Explains that the united states government has fostered a lowest bidder mentality among corporations and firms vying to provide government services.
- Explains that although competition in the bidding process is highly encouraged, caution must be at the forefront. multiple determining factors are at play when deciding which awardee will provide the best overall value, and service to the client.
- Explains that the federal acquisition regulations govern the procurement of goods and services for use by the federal government and its agencies, and lists the normally used processes for acquiring a contract.
- Explains that a proposal is unique to each instance, and each will include common elements in the write-up of the proposal.
823 wordsRead More - Legal Aspects of Procurement Managementanalytical essayThis paper examines the legal aspects of procurement management and specifically how procurement management can be used as an effective tool for the overall management of a project. This paper focuses on the basics of common contract laws, the basics of agency law, the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), and some aspects of that pertain to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). A summation of the company’s position in relation to a given supplier (provided the company decides not to procure all of the material in a contract) will be examined along with how that position is strengthened by understanding the legal aspects of procurement management. Finally, the paper will analyze how the project manager is supported by the contracting management function.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the legal aspects of procurement management and how it can be used as an effective tool for the overall management of a project.
- Explains that fleming (2003) posited that there is a clear and important distinction that should be made that delineates the work of the project from the inside work.
- Explains that agency law is an important topic in the management of projects because other than the project manager and project team will execute the scope of work.
- Explains contract law is the most relevant legal subject of procurement management because every procurement represents a contract or legal agreement.
- Opines that an adjustment of an offer, a partial concurrence only, will justify rejection of the original offer.
- Explains that the contract must be supported by "consideration," providing something of significant value for the promise, but not necessarily something equal value.
- States that the uniform commercial code (ucc) was established in 1951 to bring some unity to commercial transactions.
1764 wordsRead More - The Truth in Negotiations Actexplanatory essay...hing that was not ever the easiest type of contract to navigate but over the years the requirements have continued to get more complicated and require a lot of additional effort on the contract and the contracting officer. A contracting officer does not just accept the data supplied by the supplier as acceptable. A contract officer will have to perform due diligence and verify the information submitted. This means that the contracting officer will have to verify the material costs, the labor costs, the travel costs, and any of the data supplied.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the truth in negotiations act was passed on december 1, 1962 requiring government contractors to submit cost or pricing data if the procurement met specific requirements.
- Explains that the united states government was looking for a method in which to speed up their procurement process. the decision was made to no longer formally advertise their requirements but solicit bids from suppliers.
- Explains that competitive bids allow for the market to ensure that the best price is achieved, while a negotiated cost environment leaves room for pricing to be too high or even too low.
- Analyzes how the united states government accountability office (gao) blue book reported that the primary cause of the inequity and the resultant overpricing of contracts was the contractor's failure to provide accurate, current or complete cost data.
- Explains that the united states air force implemented a process based on the government accountability office's recommendation, which required certification of contractor cost data.
- Explains that the truth in negotiations act is a flow down requirement in government prime contracts.
- Explains that contractors must ensure they do not have a defective pricing violation to comply with the truth in negotiations act.
- Explains that the data supplied with certified current cost or pricing data is fact, not judgment. fact is the cost of a piece of steel, screw, or labor rates, while judgmental data cannot.
- Explains that a negotiated contract with the government was not always the easiest type of contract to navigate, but the requirements have continued to get more complicated.
- Opines that a negotiated contract that must be compliant with the truth in negotiations act is one that the government tends to avoid because of the complexity and additional costs associated with this particular contract type.
1050 wordsRead More - Project Charterexplanatory essayOne way to provide clear description of a project is to prepare project charter. A Guide to the Project Management Body Of Knowledge (2008), “it is the process of developing a document that formally authorizes a project or a phase and initial requirements that satisfy the stake holder needs expectations” (pg.71). Preparing a project charter is the initial step for project manager to start any project. In Project charter we can describe different components of the projects. To start any project, preparing a project charter is the initial steps for project manager. Some of the essential components are described below.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the project charter is a metaphor about the achievement goal and objectives by good planning skills.
- Explains that preparing a project charter is the first step for project manager to start any project.
- Explains the scope of a project and the importance of providing general information about the project.
- Explains that goals are more strategic and broad, while objectives are the things you need to accomplish and can be measurable.
- Explains that once goals and objectives are set, they need to rank them according to their priority.
- Explains that the cost of the project must be forecasted early in the planning and should be included in a project charter.
- Opines that project managers should always leave room for the unknown and assume that everything will run smoothly in execution of the project.
- Explains the roles and responsibilities of the project team. the success of a project depends on the team's participation in the planning process.
- Explains that the last component of the charter is approval stage, where we look for a signature of our client. signing this charter does not mean that they are approving for the budget.
- Concludes that project charters are one way of communication in a project. they minimize the risk of confusion on roles and responsibility and project objectives.
- Explains that the project management institute has a guide to the project management body of knowledge.
890 wordsRead More - Assignment 2: Vendor Assessment Evaluationcomparative essayVendor Assessment Evaluation Based on the weighted vendor assessment matrix for the three-vendor Virtually Complete, Inc., Computing Solutions and Altura Consulting, I recommend using Altura Consulting Company for the virtualization project. Altura Consulting total vendor assessment matrix score is 20 on the criteria use to determine which vendor the company will use on this project.
In this essay, the author
- Recommends using altura consulting company for the virtualization project based on the weighted vendor assessment matrix.
- Explains that computing solutions gave the lowest quote of the three vendors at $18 thousand, but did not give any detail information on the project. the fourth criteria is project documentation where virtually complete and altura consulting state, they will provide documentation.
- Explains that virtually complete and altura consulting will provide it staff training in the virtualization environment, but they will also provide written maintenance, failover procedure, and additional training materials.
- Explains that altura consulting receives a score of one, because their support staff will work with the company it staff to ensure all the application are working on the virtualize servers.
625 wordsRead More - The Buy Grid Modelexplanatory essayStep 5, acquisition and analysis of proposals: after having all the information from the relevant suppliers, the organization should analyse the information according to their criteria and standard.
In this essay, the author
- Explains the buy grid model as a general model of rational organizational design making, explaining how companies make decisions.
- Explains gatekeeper controls the information into and out of buying groups or between members of the group.
- Opines that maintaining a marketing relationship is the major issue for re-buys. it is important for the company to keep close contact with the customers, to get feedback on the product and company in general.
- Explains that modified re-buys are emphasis on search and evaluation various suppliers, so sts has to outperform than other competitors, anticipate or respond quickly to change in customers needs, and personal selling can also be applied.
- Explains that organizational buying behaviour can be described by using the buy-phases which helps in the explanation of the various steps that are involved in a typical organizational purchase decision making process.
- Explains that organization purchase decisions are based on the experience of buyer with a purchase of particular product or service.
- Explains that the buying centre is a group of participants in an organization involved in making buying decisions.
- Explains that buying centre structure is one of the factors that are influencing the purchasing process. larger buying centres are expected when the purchase decision is of major importance.
- Analyzes the influence of different buy situations of sts and their customers with a focus on buying centre structure, information search and degree of involvement.
- Opines that personal selling is the best technique of communication that can provide greater information and influence potential customers in a positive direction.
- Explains bagozzi, richard p, gopinath, mahesh, and prashanth. bazerman, max h, moore, don.
- Cites friga, paul n. and chapas, richard b., griffin, dale, wendy, lui, and khan, uzma.
- Explains the influence of purchase situation on buying centre structure and involvement: a select meta-analysis of organization buying behaviour research.
2011 wordsRead More - Different Procurement Methods: Pros and Consopinion essayIn general, there are different types of procurement type for various situations due to no one method can be suitable under the all different construction project. In this case, there are four procurement paths, which are traditional, design and build, management and design and manage, will be advised to use. However, each method has different aspects of advantages and disadvantages.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that there are different types of procurement for various situations due to no one method can be suitable under the all different construction project.
- Explains the advantages of a traditional route in the construction industry.
- Explains the disadvantages of the pre-contract process, which is sequential and construction cannot be started before the completion of design. the contractor is not appointed in the design stage, so the contractor and supply chain are no input.
- Explains that the employer appoints one organization to design and construct, thus reducing the need to commit resourced and time to contracting with designers and contractors separately.
- Opines that there are disadvantages in the processes, such as the difficulty to prepare an adequate and sufficiently comprehensive brief or set of employer’s requirement to define what they require and lead the design.
- Explains that management paths are divided into construction management and management contracting. the contraction management is manage, programme and coordinate the design and construction works.
- Explains that trade contractors and construction managers are able to contribute to the design and to project planning. changes in design can be accommodated later than with other routes, provided that the relevant trade packages have not been let.
- Explains the disadvantages of the path. price or time certainty is not achieved until the last trade packages have been let. budgeting depends heavily upon design team estimate, and duration upon the sequence needed to contract the building as designed.
- Explains that management contracting is the management contractor is appointed by the employer to manage whole of the building process.
- Explains that the route reduces resistance to works contractors' claims where such demands are passed on to the client by the management contractor. design must be closely managed to ensure package procurement is kept on programme.
- Explains that the design and manage path is similar to design, build, and management paths. the client deals with one firm, enabling improved co-ordination and collaboration between designers and constructors.
- Explains the disadvantages of this method. price certainty is not achieved until the last work package has been let. the client loses direct control over the design quality.
- Explains that the design and manage paths will be advised to the client due to five factors: times, quality, relative degree of certainty over price, no design team and innovative approaches.
- Explains that tradition path is not advised because the completion of design prior to construction work and this is the most consumption of time. other paths are also save the time due to allow the design and construction works are carried out simultaneously.
- Explains that there is no design team appointed in this case, so that the traditional approach will not be adopted.
- Explains that the new commercial director is keen to explore more innovative approaches. although the client has been conservative with his choices in the past, the traditional route is not suitable in this case.
- Explains that the mixed development of apartments is required to be high quality. however, the management paths can supervise the construction, and design and build can show the high degree of certainty price but the quality control is poor.
- Explains that the jct standard form of building contract, private, with quantities, will be suitable to use and the hkia/rics (without quantities).
- Recommends that the client review the trading history and financial position of the tendering contractors carefully and make a financial risk assessment to assess which tenderer is the most suitable in the project.
- Advises that the client should request tenders to provide more detailed information, such as management accounts, cash flows, and projections. this information can lead to understanding different contractor and make the right employment of a main contractor.
- Explains that the client should consider the structure and financial information of contractors’ companies to determine whether the contractor has a financially secure parent.
- Explains that the client should pay close attention to information about those submitting tenders and then find out potential danger signs, such as high staff turnover, large acquisitions, etc., which indicate the force of the contractor to focus elsewhere or spread too thin.
- Opines that the client should consider industry sector vulnerability issues. if the contractor is not enough ability to organize, manage, plan and supervise the works, the breach of contract will happen.
- Recommends that the client study the current workload of the contractor and consider whether they are employed and their capability can handle the project.
- Explains that the client should consider the annual revenue and project experience of those contractors for reference to take into account which contractor is suitable for their project.
- Opines that the client should consider the upfront expenditure such as plant and equipment, labors required will make the contractor's financial account under the strain.
- Recommends that the client consider approaches of performance security for the contractor's obligations under the contract, such as a performance bond, vesting agreements, clauses, retention, parent company guarantee, or escrow accounts.
- Opines that the client should not retain the clause in relation to goods and materials supplied by the contractors. this will ensure the ownership of the equipment and material passes to the clients and prevents if the contractor is bankruptcy.
- Opines that the client should bring and fix the equipment and materials onto the construction site as early as possible. this can protect the employer because even if the contractor is becoming insolvent, the materials and equipment have been their asset.
- Recommends that the client insist upon a vesting certificate where offsite goods have been paid for, to prove the ownership of the goods and materials.
- Opines that the client should consider buying a bond to protect their client. the building contract clause 33 states that if the contractor fails to deliver bond, the employer will get remedy.
- Advises that the client should consider taking out a latent defects insurance policy if the contractor have become insolvent. the employer will claim the insurance to reduce the level of the loss.
- Opines that the client should consider the overall risk profile of the contract and in particular. it is clear for client to define insolvency events of default as widely as possible.
- Advises that the client should consider allowing direct payments to subcontractors, suppliers, and professional consultants engaged by the contractor.
- Recommends that the client consider the employer has the right to apply a floating charge over the contractor's plant, equipment, and unfixed materials on site in order to sell them and apply the proceeds towards satisfying their debts under the building contract.
- Cites http://www.charlesrussell.co.uk/userfiles/file/pdf/construction_and_insolvency_-_practical_advice.pdf
2190 wordsRead More - Strategic Outsourcing At Bharti Airtel Limitedopinion essay...e steps that are required to be addressed while coming to deal with vendors. The Proposed idea, looks satisfactory in meeting the outcomes. One thing that should be ensured is that they should incorporate the clauses pertaining to risk in the plan.
In this essay, the author
- Explains bharti airtel limited's main problem is managing capital expenditures for operations and how to face the expected exponential growth and a competitive environment.
- Explains that bharti's customer base is growing at 100% per year and it is a huge challenge to keep pace with the expansion.
- Explains that they are facing a severe capital expenditure problem. they need reliable, predictable usage, linked cost structure, and want to get maximum capacity and coverage to stay competitive.
- Explains that they need an it network that could scale up to match the size of the organization it projected to become in few years. their it infrastructure is complicated by incompatible it system it has inherited through acquisitions.
- Opines that it is becoming difficult for the company to hire more people and retain the best and brightest of them.
- Explains that indian market has grown competitive due to fall in arpu (average monthly revenue per customer unit). with industry consolidation, the focus is shifting from having a national footprint to providing value-added services.
- Recommends that telecom network equipment and it equipment management should be outsourced to vendors.
- Explains that the industry practice is to purchase about 30% to 40% excess capacity to keep one step ahead of customer demand and to compensate for the estimate error of models.
- Explains that bharti would pay the vendor a fee according to the amount of erlang capacity installed. payment for network capacity will be made only when the capacity is up and running and has been used by customers.
- Explains that the asset is transformed to the bharti after completion, which increases the company's asset value.
- Explains that firms that outsource are able to fully utilize the external supplier’s investments, innovations and specialized professional capabilities to their advantage.
- Explains that in order to ensure the quality of bharti’s service to its employees and end customers, vendors’ services will be subject to a number of quality controls specified in the service level agreements.
- Explains that to stay competitive in the fast growing telecom sector in india, firms should be efficient and able to retain customers by reducing the cost of service. the case illustrates the innovative approach to gaining competitive advantage through outsourcing.
- Explains that their core competency is in operations and not in it design. they look increasingly to its vendors to provide expertise in integrated systems design
- Explains that bharti has contracts with ibm, sun microsystems, hp, and oracle for business support software and hardware and customer management systems.
- Recommends outsourcing the it and telecom equipment management to bharti to focus on marketing, operations, and increase efficiency.
- Explains that both the buyer and the seller entail some risks with respect to price, quality, time or other key terms of the contract.
- Explains that getting into agreement with one vendor may lead to no longer having access to creative new applications. the cost of deal and revenue sharing model can be mitigated or reduced by including them under some clauses there by providing flexibility.
- Opines that the deal should include clauses to avoid risks and assure all the advantages mentioned above.
1494 wordsRead More - Strategic Planning and Managementexplanatory essayThe planning process depends on a formal information system. The external and internal assessments provide a reality base on which to build future plans. The vision or mission identifies the organization's purpose and its desired future state.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that strategic planning involves an orderly sequence of activities vital to the success of the whole.
- Explains that the question of whether to develop a strategic plan may be based on answers to the following questions.
- Explains that some groups of people, or inspired leaders, have a natural ability to respond quickly and effectively to new challenges and opportunities, making strategic planning superfluous.
- Explains that strategic planning is a process to provide direction and meaning to day-to-day activities.
- Explains that the planning process depends on a formal information system. external and internal assessments provide reality bases on which to build future plans.
- Explains that a strategic plan can help improve performance. it can stimulate future-oriented thinking based on shared mission. today's educational system must cope with demographics, family patterns, and workplace requirements.
- Explains that the strategic plan is the organization's guiding spirit, providing a common sense of direction and purpose
- Explains that there are many ways to assess the external environment. trend analysis is a method of examining changes over time in order to anticipate future conditions.
- Explains that if the answers to these questions support the development of a strategic plan, then the process can be initiated.
- Explains that implementation shifts the organization's focus from developing the strategic plan to acting upon it. implementation is a reality check on assumptions and future visioning of the planning process.
- Explains that evaluation and revision are implied in every step of strategic planning. the later a major revision occurs, the greater retrenchment necessary.
1995 wordsRead More