Newton Valley Public School Case Study

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Alternatives

Alternative 1 – Expand both Collaborative Agreements

Pros:

- Ability to expand network of resources and suppliers, better products and pricing

- Possibility to lower cost and create better collaborative agreements

- More buying power, better service from suppliers

- Sharing of knowledge and process

- More people in consortium to look out for best options

- Allows for staff (Jr. buyer) to become full-time for Humphries as more manpower will be required

- Reduced administrative cost

Cons:

- Not every school board my receive and see the equal benefits

- Designating roles can lead to ambiguity and Responsibility

- Cost of Collaboration May Be High

- Collaboration may leads to longer decision time

- Bigger the group, possible conflict within and more communication problems

- More paperwork to handle

Alternative 2 – Continue with IT Agreement with Adjustments to be made in Multi-School Agreement

Pros:

- Find new ways in creating more innovative collaborative agreements

- Allows for staff (Jr. buyer) to become full-time for Humphries as more manpower will be required

- Province-wide purchasing allows for more purchasing power

- Appeal to more suppliers due to size and become a more prominent customer versus a customer with small purchases

- Ability to find ways to create savings and efficiencies

- Standardizing procurement practices and managing inventory more effectively; generate savings through lower costs for goods and services purchased

- Reduced administrative cost

Cons:

- Set-up for multiple schools can be time consuming and Communication issues

- Disagreements within the schools may cause longer decision time

- Some schools in the consortium may be reluctant to share information, leading to a lack of openness

- Possible conflicting values or ethics

- Agreement by all schools may require additional time

- School may promote its own business agenda rather than the collaboration's objective

- Possible lack of management commitment

- Collaborative purchasing can limit choice of items

- Building maintenance category was too large for suppliers to get a handle on for bidding.

Alternative 3 - Leave Current Collaborative Agreements

Pros:

- Ability to start fresh and focus on NVSPs agenda

- Order what IT department requires without compromising on lead time for other schools order

- Direct contact with suppliers, build a better relationship

- Easier to track budgets

Cons:

- Loss of purchasing power and cost will probably increase

- May not be significant to the supplier and get the service or goods that are required as they will service larger customers first

- Increase workload, need to source and negotiate

Recommendations

Humphries needs to assess whether to continue with the strategy of using collaborative purchasing agreements for the Computer Purchasing and Multi-School Board Cooperative

Schools are facing budget cuts and purchasing agreements have shown to be effective and have costs-savings. Humphries should decide on Alternative 2 - Continue with IT Agreement with Adjustments to be made in Multi-School Agreement

The Computer purchasing agreement was successful with some concerns from Chen and the IT technicians; however the Multi-school Board Cooperative hasn’t gone quite as expected. The building maintenance category was too large for suppliers to get a handle on for bidding.

The Computer purchasing agreement showed 6 percent in cost savings, but better communication between the IT Manager needs to occur. Leasing of computer equipment should not occur at this time as a review and cost of the items life cycle will need to be further evaluated

The current multi-school purchasing agreement is quite new and therefore difficult to assess progress and cost-savings. Humphries can use his experience and take away the best attributes from his previous agreements and re-work it to improve a new multi-school board purchasing agreement. Perhaps with a larger consortium, Humphries will have more purchasing power and can use leverage to obtain the needs of the consortium from suppliers. Suppliers are usually willing to add value and work as a partner when they know they have a large purchase order and know that is continuous business. Furthermore, Humphries can create the consortium with the right people and strategy to certify that the procurement processes are executed properly

Implementation

1-3 Weeks – Since the consortium is already set, arrangements for communication will need to be improved. Humphries will meet with the IT Manager to define the value and purpose the purchasing agreement. The meeting are to get the buy in from each department than get their feedback to begin the set up a communications platform. Ideas will be exchanged, and information collected on how to implement throughout the network. Each member at the school part will be asked to assign a buyer in their Procurement Department in charge of placing and sending their orders to Humphries department on a monthly basis. Guidelines and