Author: Liz Busch Public sector entities rely on the expertise and hard work of their contractors to successfully deliver on their mandates. Therefore, the relationships between the public sector and vendors are vital to the smooth operation of any government organization. But how can government employees ensure these positive vendor relationships while still maintaining control […]
Author: Larry Berglund Negotiation competencies are a must in procurement. Whether in the private or public sector, you are always negotiating. Some of the challenges to expect include: The Day you meet Goliath It’s inevitable that you will be involved in doing a deal with an oligopolistic market leader. Characterized as one of a few […]
Author: Liz Busch Trade agreement obligations for government procurement projects are not easy to understand, which makes it difficult to determine compliancy. This becomes more complex when more than one trade agreement applies, as the procurement must comply with all. This article will address two trade agreements – the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) and […]
Author: Larry Berglund Talent Hiring and retaining staff with supply chain competencies is a growing issue for procurement in Canada. Not only have many people left the field, but those who remain are being s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d to the limit. The expectations of organizations to deliver value for money is approaching unrealistic levels. Material and labour shortages […]
Author: Liz Busch How well you manage the scope of your contracts can significantly enhance your chance of success, or spell disaster. Poorly written and managed scopes-of-work can result in few quality submissions to your solicitation, difficulties finalizing the contract with your frontrunner, disputes on whether the deliverables were met, vendor complaints, and even litigation. […]
Author: Larry Berglund Of all our interpersonal skills we can improve, negotiation is one of the best to focus on for supply chain professionals in the public sector. Procurement in the public sector can be characterized as being reliant on public tendering. While public tendering is a commonly used tool for attaining prices, there is […]
author: Larry Berglund Want to make a deep-rooted difference in your career? Step 1: Adopt a social procurement strategy for your organization. Step 2: Implement it! What is Social Procurement? Social procurement was a nascent idea which resonated with supply chain professionals across the public sector. Rather than focusing on and defending the lowest cost […]
By Liz Busch Many of the public sector’s contracts for ongoing needs are multi-year, with options to renew or extend. These contract renewals offer a significant opportunity to negotiate cost savings, improve on terms and extract optimum value from long-term contracts. Changing suppliers for ongoing contractual needs can be difficult, which makes adding options to […]
By The Procurement School Without effective communication, relationships with your procurement partners can quickly become stagnant. This and undoubtedly negatively impact your team’s vendor performance management strategy and outcome. To nurture a supplier relationship that optimizes outcomes for both parties, performance management should be an ongoing and continuous process. Relevant feedback delivered when the supplier […]
The procurement of IT components and services comes with its own unique set of challenges and responsibilities. This encompasses cyber security and other IT services, hardware, and software products. One must aim to meet all business requirements and maximize the value of spend. Below we offer best practices for mitigating the many different areas of […]