New book on Public Sector Procurement

Our new book is now published by Cambridge Academic, and is called “Excellence in Public Sector Procurement in Public Sector Procurement-How to control costs and add value”

Co-authored with Stuart Emmett, it has been written because whilst, there are many general books covering Procurement, not many cover solely the public sector.

Yet this sector spends colossal amounts of taxpayer’s money on goods and services; the NHS alone, for example, is one the largest organisations in the world.

The UK public sector also has its own peculiarities and differences from the private sector, for example, the EU Procurement Rules that guide and direct how purchasing must be undertaken.  At regional and local level there are additional priorities, which are often subject to political oversight.  In addition there are opportunities to use Procurement as a tool for wider objectives.

It may be that such regulation constrains and limits procurement best practice and therefore such tensions will also be briefly explored in the book. However the main thrust of the book, will be the requirement to work working within the existing rules and guidelines.

The style of the book is our usual one of being direct with little jargon. It covers all of the basics as well as providing detailed and wider discussions to encourage thought and practical application. To facilitate practical application, the book is illustrated by case studies and application checklists.

The contents cover the following main sections:

Part one. Procurement Objectives

·         Procurement Evolution and The Supply Chain

·         Strategic and Organizational Procurement

·         Procurement Objectives

·         The 5 Rights

·         Product and Services Differences

·         Procurement by the Strategic Requirements

Part two: The Procurement Cycle

·         Needs/Specifying

·         Sourcing

·         Enquiry and Evaluation

·         Tendering in the Public Sector

·         Order placing and Contracts

·         Handling orders

·         Progressing and Delivery

·         Loss and Disputes

·         Balancing Commercial and social objectives

Part three. Public Sector Procurement Frameworks

·         Overview

·         The Regulatory framework

·         Lower Value Procurements

·         Best Value concepts

·         SME concordat

Part four. Best Practice and Contexts

·         Suppliers pricing

·         Relationship based approaches

·         Outsourcing with NHS Case Study

·         Private Finance Initiative

·         ICT and E- Procurement

·         ICT Project Procurement

·         Buying from the third sector

·         Supplier Development

·         Contract  Management      

·         Budget management  

Part five. Public Sector Procurement: some Conclusions

·         Size of the public sector

·         Controversy: Is tendering the best way?

Appendices

·         Public sector Procurement in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

·         International Public Procurement challenges

This book is intended for:

·         Professional managers in all public sector procurement and supply roles and positions.

·         Suppliers in the private sector who need to understand the public sector

·         Academics such as lecturers or students studying business topics like procurement, purchasing and the supply chain

·         Students of professional institutes such as the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Institute of Supply Management and others.

The book is available right now from:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Excellence-Public-Sector-Procurement-Stuart/dp/1903499666/ref=sr_1_37?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322819339&sr=1-37