Procurement Policies - the Province of Nova Scotia - Coursework Example

Procurement policies Student’s Name Subject Professor University/Institution Location Date Sustainable procurement is an organizational process that generates benefits to the organization, society and the economy by meeting their needs for goods, works, services and utilities, where value for money is achieved (Meehan and Bryde, 2011). Sustainability in procurement processes is integrated wholly assessing and defining the needs, evaluate options, tender evaluation and supplier development. Organization must integrate extrinsic cost consideration into decisions alongside the conformist procurement criteria of quality and price. Sustainable procurement involves investment and spending and is associated with public policy and private sectors (Streich, 2010).To implement a sustainable public procurement, government must create policy and Action Plan that provides a clear mandate and direction for implementation. The prior existence of an overarching strategy and policy that supports the sustainable public procurement of a country determines a need for a new policy. Every purchase is an opportunity to raise markets to sustainability and innovation where government leads by example by delivering key sustainable procurement policies. The policies allow the government to meet their environmental goals such as improving energy and water. Province of Nova Scotia Sustainable procurement policy is a government procurement policy that was enacted in 2009. It came out of concern in Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act that recognizes the interconnection of environment, people and economy (Meehan, 2011). To achieve the best value for government, the policy looks beyond the lowest cost to the three considerations (social, economic and environmental) impacts of purchases. The first phase in a multi-year initiative to make a practice of Sustainable Procurement common in Nova Scotia’s government was the release of the sustainable Procurement Policy. This policy has been enacted to the adherence of the public procurement principles and supporting the sustainable procurement goals as they are in Environmental Goals and Sustainable Act (2007) (Streich, 2010) The province of Nova Scotia Sustainable procurement policy has major objectives. The objectives are real in that the policy applies to all departments for the procurement of all goods and services, contract, lease or long term rental. The policy ensures that all bidders have opportunity and reasonable notice to tender (Vinning and Boardman, 2008). The objectives are also sustainable as the policy ensures that every procurement departments have been assigned the authority to acquire goods or services as they ensure its best value. According to ( Preuss, 2009), For Province of Nova Scotia policy to sustain its objectives, the department ensures that they obtain competitive quotes if possible, and award to the bid with best value. The policy ensures that for good, services or construction with the value below $1,000 taxes shall not be quoted. The policy objectives are time based in that, it provides outreach programs to encourage healthy competition and innovation to Nova Scotia employees. These employees are required by the policy to enroll in and complete the on line introductory training course for sustainable le Procurement by April 1st, 2010. The measurability of the policy was demonstrated in 2007, when it ensured that each of the 2300 vehicles the province buys is fuel efficient, which has reduced green house gas emission and its usage is the right one ( Meehan, 2011). The policy ensures effectiveness through every procurement department. It ensures that the financial management department maintains and tracks all corporate financial information in the right manner and time including creation of official purchase order. The policy also ensures that the government adapts SAP in its departments as the official financial management system which increases its capacity of its effectiveness. It ensures that any department, office, agent or commission is subjected to Auditor General Act as directed by responsible minister to ensure financial effectiveness in all procurement offices (Reuter and Blome, 2010). The practical implementation of this policy is based on time framework. The different activities by the government that involves its implementations are carried out category by category. In 2003, the government of Nova Scotia published towards a Sustainable Environment which committed it to adopt green procurement standard. Consequently, an Environmentally Responsible Procurement policy was implemented in 2005 by Nova Scotia Environment and Labor (Reuter and Hartman, 2010). The policy was drawn to improve the sustainability of the purchase department and to facilitate the model the other departments in the government. In 2006, the government department implemented the specific environmentally procurement practices such as publication and printing. The department of Communication Nova Scotia which is responsible for government publishing included requirement in bid for forestry Stewardship council (FSC) which is a certified paper products that contains recycled fiber content and requested the use of soy, Agri-based inks or vegetables. The changes were made by the government through the NSED suppliers Development program to support the purchase of local agricultural products in justice institutions. The adoption of the Environmental Goal and Sustainable Prosperity Act in 2007 was one of the 21 goals to adopt a Sustainable Procurement Policy. Also the approved august 2007 vehicle policy applies to acquisition and to maintain the on-road government vehicle. The publication and distribution of talk newsletter this policy started on 2008, the policy took effect on 2009 as the implementation and development of tip sheets and mandatory specifications continues category by category basis. According to Kaufmann, Hellman, Jones & Schankerman (2000), as it is in public sector, sustainable procurement policy is also applicable in private sectors and those involved in it desire to see it applied in all aspects of economy. It is not a straightforward activity for government to influence the procurement practice within the private sector, indicating that the companies have to put a lot of effort in self-motivation to accept sustainability. Walker & Nogeste (2008) points out that, large private sectors need to signal to the industry future trends. This will help to manage the sustainable procurement policies. For private sector to conduct a competitive procurement processes, no legislative requirements are needed though the same duty of transparency, fairness and competitive contracting laws apply as in public sector (Akintoye, et al 2003). The Bank Sustainable Procurement is one of the policies that apply to all private procurement contracts where the bank finances the client in whole or in part where the client employs a procurement agent. The Bank Sustainable Procurement Policy ensures that clients are satisfied and their obligations are looked at to ensure that the projects are executed effectively. The objective of this policy are more sustainable, carried out diligently and effectiveness, and work, good and services are procured (Byggeth & Hochschorner 2006). The obligations of the bank sustainable procurement policy are ‘smart’ in that, it ensures that the contracts are awarded on basis of open competitive tendering, which maximize competition as the fundamental principal of goods and services, and in this case, only in special cases are contract awarded on the basis of other procedures (Ball 2007 ). The objectives are also achievable in that they are time bound, as it gives time limit for preparing and submitting of tender should be adequately equal for all binders, and should not be less than 45 days from the day of publication of the availability of the tender document. The policy also emphasizes on the need for economy and efficiency in the implementation of project where procurement of goods and services is concerned. It ensures that there is transparency in the procurement process which makes the client to have a lot of confidence in the policy. The carefulness in procurement planning which addresses certain needs of the company is very important for the Banks agreement and evaluation, which shows the comprehensiveness of the policy. It ensures that any contract awarded in private sector is negotiated on arms length and is based on the best financial interest of the client (Akintoye, et al 2003). In the measurability of the policy, it ensures that the costs that exceed market level are not financed by the bank, and for contracts estimated to cost less than $ 75,000 with firms or individuals may be selected directly as a qualified consultant, and the contracts that are estimated to cost $ 75,000 or more and not more than $300,000, should be subjected to a shortlist. The policy does not govern the rights and obligations of the client vis-à-vis bidder for work, goods and services. It facilitates the bank in advising and assisting clients in procurement processes and them that requires provisions as state of financing. The practical implementation of the Bank Sustainable Procurement Policy is based on procedural framework and it has been developed by the banks. First the client company conducts an initial social assessment (Wilber & Zammit 2005). In conclusion, the discussion has been presented on sustainable procurement on the public and private sector with a focus on its policies and practical implications for procurement process. In order to have a clear understanding and appreciation of the concept and policies, the policies should be explained in terms of its objectives, comprehensiveness, potential effectiveness, practical implementation and measurability. References Akintoye, A, et al 2003, Achieving best value in private finance initiative project procurement. Construction Management and Economics. Ball, J, 2007 Education plc: Understanding private sector participation in public sector education. Taylor & Francis. Byggeth, S, & Hochschorner, E, 2006 Handling trade-offs in ecodesign tools for sustainable product development and procurement. Journal of Cleaner Production. Jefferies, M, 2006 Critical success factors of public private sector partnerships: A case study of the Sydney SuperDome. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management Kaufmann, D, Hellman, J, Jones, G, & Schankerman, M, 2000 Measuring governance, corruption, and state capture: How firms and bureaucrats shape the business environment in transition economies. World Bank Policy Research Working McCrudden C, & Gross, G, 2006, WTO government procurement rules and the local dynamics of procurement policies: a Malaysian case study. European Journal of International Law Meehan, J, & Bryde, D, 2011 Sustainable procurement practice. Business Strategy and the Environment Preuss, L, 2009 Addressing sustainable development through public procurement: the case of local government. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 14(3), 213-223. Reuter, C, Foerstl, K, Hartmann, E, & Blome, C 2010 Sustainable global supplier management: the role of dynamic capabilities in achieving competitive advantage. Journal of Supply Chain Management Streich E, 2010. Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009: A Fit-ing Policy for North America. House. J. Int'l L. Vining, R, & Boardman, E, 2008 Public‐private partnerships in Canada: Theory and evidence. Canadian public administration. Walker, D. H, & Nogeste, 2008 Performance measures and project procurement. Procurement Systems–A Cross Industry Project Management Perspective Wilber, R, & Zammit, K 2005, June Development of procurement guidelines for air-cooled condensers. In Advanced Cooling Strategies/Technologies Conference, June 1-2, 2005, Sacramento, California. Read More