Investigates the relationship between international organizations and private subjects under the unexplored perspective of procurement by international organizations.

In many countries and sectors, public procurement is developing from a functional orientation to an effective socio-economic policy lever. There is a great interest among managers and academics to learn from other countries’ and other sectors’ change initiatives and how they dealt with the challenges they encountered. This text provides such learning opportunities, presenting case studies of public procurement, covering diverse nations, sectors and issues. The cases are combined with editorial commentary and contextualizing chapters to assist the student reader in understanding this complex topic. The text combines descriptions of cases of public procurement with cross case analysis to draw out the key dimensions to enable further examination of the central themes. Each case study concludes with three questions to aid its use as a teaching and training text. Edited by a team of internationally recognised experts in the field this innovative text illustrates the strategies and innovations within public procurement on a global scale and highlights common problems that all countries encounter. Public Procurement is vital reading for anyone with an interest in this topical area.

Distributed to some depository libraries in microfiche.

Since the 1990s, government at all levels is under increasing pressure to do more with less. However, despite the U.S. government spending about 15 to 20 percent of its GDP on contracts for goods and services, there is a paucity of reference books for public procurement officials and very few textbooks for courses on the subject. Filling this void, the International Handbook of Public Procurement provides the knowledge necessary to understand how procurement works and how to improve the cost-effectiveness of procurement systems. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, the book focuses on the managerial, economic, political, and legal aspects of this topic. It begins with a conceptual framework and highlights various reforms occurring in certain countries. By examining these improvements, readers are able to apply this knowledge to their own strategies. The next section presents selected cases that illustrate the public procurement process, examining systems in various nations including Germany, China, South Africa, Cambodia, Uganda, and Estonia. The book also discusses the rise of electronic procurement systems (E-procurement) and reviews the benefits of these efficient systems. Other topics presented in this comprehensive volume include practical discussions on contract negotiations, bidding, price strategies and cost analysis, and an insightful chapter on the market’s response to contract award announcements. A virtual encyclopedia from numerous international experts, this book was assembled by Khi V. Thai, Professor at Florida Atlantic University and Editor of the Journal of Public Procurement. Dr. Thai has provided technical assistance in the area of public procurement to governments across the world. Empowering those on all sides of the issue, this volume dispenses advice valuable to government officials and contractors, as well as providing a comprehensive text for public administration students.

Technology offsets, a nonconventional international trade-financing tool, is used by governments (buyers) to obtain industrial and technological benefits from companies (sellers) as part of international procurement. Offsets deals involve billions of dollars and this practice exists in around 80 countries around the world. Though offsets is a popular practice in defence, it is increasingly gaining popularity in civil sectors. Offsets is often tainted by controversy and receives bad press. What then makes offsets popular? Governments claim that offsets delivers technology and knowledge transfer, skills in high technology sectors and employment, and offsets expands export opportunities through participation in OEM supply chains. For companies, offsets is mainly employed as a tool to obtain a competitive edge and win sales in international business. In the past, there have been mixed results of case studies on the impact of offsets successes and failures. Considering the mismanagement of globalisation, unfair trade agreements and current political and economic discontent, there is a stronger need for governments and companies to use vehicles such as offsets to create a relationship of trust and commitment for sustainable development. This book fills the gap in offsets and focuses on how to manage offsets more effectively by addressing issues of strategy, policy and implementation, technology management, governance and risk. Technology Offsets in International Defence Procurement is designed for those studying international procurement, international trade, international business, technology management, defence policy and industrial policy. This book will also be of interest to practitioners and policy makers in both government and industry.