Sustainable Procurement in Public Sector

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Alternative 1: Cross Functional team effort in policy development and implementation

The fact that supply management team lacks knowledge and expertise in sustainability practices, there is lack of shared expertise between purchasing and supply management, sustainability specialist’s lack of knowledge about RFP/RFI and procurement in general and there are fiscal constraints and stretched budget to play with already; identifies a big gap within city’s supply chain and organizational structure.

Due the complexity of this project, Manager of Supply Management will require the expertise of different individuals who are experienced and well versed in their area of expertise, in order to deliver the project on time and within the specified budget.

It is our recommendation that Manager of Supply management should form a cross functional team for the duration of this project in order to effectively develop, implement and execute the new SPP policy among all the city branches with the help and expertise of following members of city’s different departments:

Department

Position

# of staff

Role

Supply Management

Manager

1

Project Manager

Supply Management

Buyer

1

Current purchasing process

Procurement

Sr. Procurement Specialist

1

Procurement Expertise

Sustainability

Sustainability Specialist

1

Sustainability Expertise

Finance

Finance Manager

1

Project Financial Management

Engineering

Engineer

1

Current vs. Future analysis

Administration

Technical Writer

1

Policy Development

Legal

Legal Counsel

1

Laws, Acts & Legal Expertise

Contractor

Public Consultant

1

NGO/ Public Sector Expertise

Based on a detailed analysis, below are the PRO’s and CON’s for the alternative above:

PROS

CONS

Shared Expertise

Additional resources cost until Project end

Current vs. Future State analysis

Technical resources cost

SPP Best Practices

Stakeholder analysis

Financial Control on Project costs

Effective Policy Development

Alternative 2: Project outsourcing to third party Management consulting firm

Due to the complexity of this project and lack of in house expertise about ethical and sustainable procurement practices, other alternative could be outsource the policy development and review to a third party Management consulting firm, specialized in Public sector projects.

Major reasons to outsource the project:

- Lack of cross functional collaboration

- Strategic value chain impact

- Knowledge and Information

- Strategic alignment and posture

Based on a detailed analysis, below are the PRO’s and CON’s for the alternative above:

PROS

CONS

Third Party Expertise

Higher Implementation Cost

Sustainability Expertise

Less Control

No project resources required

Potential of lack of Public knowledge

Additional Policy review cost

Management/Overhead cost

Legal costs due to outsourcing

Recommendation

Based on the Alternatives and options presented above, it is our recommendation to choose Alternative 1 – Cross Functional team effort in policy development and implementation for the reasons stated below:

- Expertise from different departments of city

- Exposure to sustainability procurement practices

- No external involvement / Unbiased

- Promoting sustainability across the organization

- Gaining public trust and reputation

- Promoting innovation and enhancing access to green and ethical products to lower costs of sustainable purchasing over time.

- Product/ Service whole life costing

- Cost efficient in the long run

- Less long term overhead

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