Contracting for Goods and Services

The purpose of this research is to examine the process of contracting for goods and services in the public sector. Of particular interest are the prerogative of public performance, contract changes, contract default, contract termination, and the role of contracting in the public sector.

Contracting in the public sector is a part of the purchasing function. Purchasing always involves the acquisition of goods and services. In the public sector, purchasing almost always involves the acquisition of goods and services by an organization, for consumption by the organization, in the servicing of its client group. In private-sector organizations, this purpose is also present. In these organizations, however, goods and services are more often acquired as a means of supporting a production process, as opposed to organizational consumption.

The external environment of an organization provides its reason for existence. Therefore, the purchasing function is intimately involved with the capacity of the organization to fulfill its mission, whether that mission is the servicing of welfare clients, or whether it is the manufacture of automobiles. The external environment of a public sector organization, in addition, involves both the general public, and the political funding authority for the organization. Prudent and effective use of the financial resources made available to the organi

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artment. The use of formalized, standardized procedures can be equally effective for purchasing/contracting organizations in which buying activities are organized along project classifications, or for organizations in which the buying activities are organized along product or service classifications. Several of the ways in which purchasing and contracting efficiency is facilitated by the use of standardized, formalized procedures have been discussed above. There are, however, additional advantages in this context. First, the use of standardized procedures can promote procedural continuity over time; a particularly significant advantage in organizations with high personnel turnovers. Secondly, the use of standardized procedures facilitates the rapid and effective training of personnel newly acquired by an organization. Effective training is important for both the short- and the long-term effectiveness of an organization. The more quickly newly acquired personnel can become fully effective in their organizational tasks, the less costly their acquisition will be to the organization. The use of standardized procedures by public-sector organizations, "when reduced to writing, provide a means of controlling . . . operat
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2859
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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