David Yeoward examines problems in the procurement process
We’ve all been there. A bid process kick off meeting convened at least a week after the invitation to tender (ITT) has landed. No one has prepared – and it turns into a form of Russian roulette to identify who’ll lead the team. Everybody knows it shouldn’t be like this. Mutual assurances that it won’t happen again relieve the guilty parties’ consciences. But then it does. Why? Excuses range from levels of busy-ness to: ‘that’s the way we do things round here’ – but the real reasons are two-fold, and inter-linked. First, despite the prevalence of competitive tenders as a source of work, too few professional service firms recognise executing them as part of the day job and a...
