Asian Development Bank

Improving the Capability and Capacity of

Public Procurement Professionals and
Government Agencies
Sarah Cotgreave, FCIPS
Senior Procurement Specialist (Capacity Building and New Initiatives)
Central Operations Services Office
Asian Development Bank
Agenda
 Business Case for Professional Procurement
 Evolution of professional procurement
 Role of Professional Associations
 Professional Qualifications
 Determining and Assessing Skills and Competence
 Codes of Conduct
 eProcurement Capacity Building
 Agency Capability Reviews
Many governments wish to increase
Procurement capability and capacity
“The one area that has not received as much attention as
it requires… is in enhancing skills and professionalism
in management of procurement.

…how to put in place systems for sustainable skills

development and how to institute professionalism to
manage these newly reformed systems. Knowledge
exchange and technical assistance in this area would be
of great benefit.”

Robert R. Hunja August 2010, WBI

 Why should Ministers care about
Professional Public Procurement?
 Ensure sufficient accountable and competent individuals
and agencies controlling national expenditure
 Public Procurement can be a tool for local, regional and
national economic development – “LM3”
 Reduce national expenditure and process costs, based
on foundation of competition, fairness and transparency:
 A competitive environment attractive to suppliers, lenders and donors
 “Value for money” investment, e.g. in transport, utilities, education,
health
 More efficient use of tax revenues and government borrowing for public
benefit
Levels of Professionalism

 National Framework – Policy,

Standards and Assurance
 Agency Capability – Staffing,
Systems, Processes and Procedures
 Individual - Qualifications and
Competence
 Maturity of Public Procurement: from
Buying to Commercial Directorate

Commercial
Performance
Commercial Improvement,
Management , Peer Reviews,
Governance, and
Compliance, Efficiency,
Professional
Procurement Concessions, Collaboration,
Sector and Capability Shared Services,
Category Assessment Lean and Six
Tendering Management Economic Sigma Process
Frameworks Development Improvement,
eProcurement
Negotiations Contract Successful
Management Delivery
SME and Supplier
Requisitions Development
Ordering A SEAT ON THE
Competency EXECUTIVE
Stores Assessment and
Management Development
BOARD OF
GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES
 How Public Procurement’s role has
developed
From: Buyer s
 Administrative Overhead
 Process Manager
 Procurement Police
 Operational
 Administration
 Problem Solver/Fire fighter
 Risk Assessment
 Procurement Manager
To: Commercial Directorates
 Value Add
 Knowledge Managers
 Commercial Acumen
 Tactical & Strategic Team Player
 Internal Consultancy
 Proactive and Innovator
 Risk Management
 Commercial Management
 Concessions
 PPP
 “Wider Markets”
 Essentials of Professional Public
Procurement

Performance Improvement Process Improvement People and Competency

• Successful Delivery
• Effective public services
• Value for money
• Good practice sharing
• Peer review
• Efficiency Improvement
• Transparency • Up-skilling
• Standards / Benchmarks - ISO • Accreditation
• Risk Management • Behavior change
• Career paths

COLLABORATION WITH OTHER PROFESSIONS

 Elements of Professionalism
INPUT EXPECTED OUTPUT
 Procurement Policies, Compliance Measures
Procedures, Practices Added Value / Savings / Revenue
 Codes of conduct Integrity/Ethical behavior
 Training Skills, Certification and Capacity
 Qualifications Career Planning, Pride
 Standards Quality
 Measures Capability, Benchmarks
 Community Networks, Sharing and
Collaboration
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Types of Professional Procurement
Associations

 International Membership Associations

 National Associations
 Government Associations
 Formal and informal Communities of
practitioners – e.g. LinkedIn
What is the value of Professional
Procurement Associations?
 National recognition of profession – in all sectors
 Training
 Standard Qualifications
 Membership communities – face to face and online
 Meetings and other ways of sharing good practice
 Access to experts
 Conferences
 Magazines and publications
 Research
 Professional codes of Conduct
 Job opportunities and recruitment
 Networks – e.g. for Leaders, Industry Sectors, etc.
International Federation of
Purchasing and Supply Management
 Umbrella body for Professional Procurement
Associations
 Facilitates the development and sharing of the
practice of the purchasing and supply management
profession
 Share knowledge on best practices, guidelines and
ethical, good practice to assist associations in
delivering quality products, programs and services to
their members
 Supports the development and recognition of
professional purchasing and supply associations
 Provides standards of qualifications
 Promotes academic interest in Procurement
 IFPSM Member Organizations
AMERICAS EUROPE ASIA AFRICA
Brazil Austria (x2) Norway Thailand South Africa
Argentina Germany France Singapore(x2)
Dominican Republic Ireland UK - CIPS* Hong Kong
Mexico Israel Croatia Malaysia
Caribbean (Forming)Spain Finland India
Colombia (Forming) Hungary Estonia S. Korea
Peru (Forming) Greece Netherlands Japan
Chile (Forming) Italy Belgium (x2) China
USA – ISM*, NIGP Denmark Switzerland Sri Lanka
Canada Sweden Turkey (Forming) Philippines
Poland Slovenia PASIA*

* Organizations with international membership

GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
COMMUNITIES
 UK Government Procurement Service
Owned by Central Government (Cabinet Office). Supports UK public
procurement professionals and provides:
 Supports study for professional qualifications (CIPS)
 Standard for “Certificate of Competence” – in association with National School of
Government - based on logbook of experience
 Career options within the civil service
 Framework to deliver better public services and greater savings
 Special interest groups (SIGs) on a cross- government basis
 Skills frameworks at practitioner and leadership levels
 Recruitment routes: Graduate Scheme / Civil Service Fast Stream
 Strategy for „Building the Procurement Profession in Government’
 Mandatory Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
 Online community for the exchange of ideas and best practice.
 Program to facilitate cross department moves.
 Annual national conference – buyers AND suppliers
Benefits of UK GPS Community
 Defined Salary structure + qualification uplift = 5%
 Members part of a recognized profession in government
 Early notification of events, workshops and seminars
 Access to learning and development opportunities
 GPS Online – interactive links to vacancies, documents and forums
 GPS Digest - monthly e-newsletter
 Work closely with Charted Institute for Purchasing and Supply
(CIPS) – national curriculum for public procurement
 GPS Council - senior body develops organizational capability
 Special Interest Groups drive developments in public procurement
 Analysis of capacity, demand, succession planning
 Share good practice and messages to a wide or targeted audience
 Cohesive cross-government perspective for profession and function
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Procurement Qualifications
 Government owned qualifications
 e.g. US “Warrant”, NIGP, UK Certificate of
Competence
 Professional Association qualifications
 e.g. MCIPS, CPSM
 Degree and Masters programs with
Procurement or Supply Management
elements - Professional exemptions?
Example – Chartered Institute of
Purchasing and Supply
 Public Sector Faculty – courses designed for public
procurement professionals
 7 levels of Certification
 MCIPS = Member - Bachelors degree equivalent
 Level 7 = post graduate certificate
 FCIPS = Fellow – outstanding contribution to
procurement profession
 International Public Procurement
Certificates – Bhutan, Bangladesh
INDIVIDUAL SKILLS AND COMPETENCY
FRAMEWORKS
 UK GPS Skills Framework – 2 levels
PRACTITIONER - 9 competencies LEADER – 4 competencies
 Public Procurement Context requirements Leadership
 Strategic Awareness Systems and Processes
 Finance Skills Development and Deployment
 Inventory and Logistics Management Assurance, Compliance and Integrity
 Procurement Processes
 Contract Negotiations and Management
 Relationship Management
 Supply Markets
 Programme / Project management
 GPS Skills Framework
 Using the Framework identifies individual skills and
knowledge needed to progress in the procurement
profession
 Individual competency can be assessed by agency at 4
levels via a questionnaire:
 Awareness – able to understand key issues and their implications
 Developing – demonstrate behaviours and outcomes above Awareness levels, but
have not had sufficient opportunity or experience to put the skill into practice
 Practitioner – display detailed knowledge of the subject and are capable of
providing guidance and advice to others
 Expert – display extensive and substantial experience and applied knowledge of
the subject. They have significant commercial experience.
PROFESSIONAL CODES OF CONDUCT
- DRIVING ETHICAL BEHAVIOR
Codes of Conduct
Government or Professional Association:
 Ethics- Integrity
 Reputation- Business confidence
 Transparency- Open communication
 Trust- In relationships
 Justice- Fair competition
 Professionalism- Good practice
 Elements affecting integrity of public
procurement professionals
1. Legislation and Regulations
2. Governance - Monitoring, Audit and Enforcement
3. Structure - promoting accountability
4. Public Servants’ employment contract and ethical code
5. “Conflict of Interest” declarations
6. Transparency of supply opportunities and contract awards
8. Independence and Confidentiality of procurement process
9. Limits of political influence in procurement decisions
10. Whistle blowing and complaints handling
11. Co-ordination and effectiveness of anti-corruption bodies
12. Support of the private sector - integrity pacts
ePROCUREMENT CAPACITY BUILDING
EU - ePractice.eu
 EU funded best practice sharing
 Case studies of eProcurement
implementation
 Standards (PEPPOL)
 Cross border payments and invoicing
messaging – a common eProcurement
standard for bank messaging in the Single
Economic Payments Area
 Community of practitioners and experts
 Increasing Capacity to Implement 5
UK eProcurement Systems
The Office of Government Commerce saved
$405m over a 3 years using eProcurement
Source: Procurement Leaders, 25 August 2010
1. Zanzibar Market Place,

Management Information
Procurement Card

Payment Collaboration
2. Government

5. Spend Analysis
Invoice / GPC Specification / Notice

3. eSourcing,
4. eAuctions,
Receive Expression of Interest
Feedback / MI
Order Best Practice Invitation To Tender

Approval Evaluate

Selection /Requisition Negotiate / Reverse Auction

Content Management Award

Contract Management

Purchasing Sourcing
 eProcurement Change Management:
essential enabler for success
Keep selling the benefits – took 3 years in UK
Need to assess agency readiness and capacity for change
Process Re-engineering – Best Process for certain categories, e.g.
temporary staff timesheets, travel booking, etc.
Help with adjusting policy for implementation
Program Management templates
Suggestions for working with key Stakeholders, e.g. finance, audit
Re-engineering of processes and procedures
Training of all staff using the system
Motivating affected staff
Monitoring performance and compliance
 eProcurement Capacity:
Lessons Learned in UK
Extensive communication/selling required to achieve
acceptance
Change Management assistance required – central
Program team
Supplier Engagement was key task and very time
consuming – dedicated communications
Risk Assessment and Security Management
Institutional Memory
AGENCY CAPABILITY MEASUREMENT
Agency Capability Assessment

 National Audit Agencies

 Government Capability Reviews
 Donor Agency Capability Reviews
UK Procurement Capability Reviews
 Cabinet Office Efficiency Unit – Public
Procurement Policy Agency monitors Capacity
and Capability of Ministries and Agencies
 Waves of reviews
 Initially Peer Reviews
 Now self-assessment based on benchmarks
 Results and performance published to
ministers AND to the public
 Linking National System with
Agency Practices – ADB PREI
 Procurement Review for Effective Implementation
 ADB Review of agency procurement system:
1. Does the agency have a strategy to achieve an effective
procurement program in line with national policy
2. Will organizational structure and employee capacity
support the strategy
3. Do internal procurement processes support the strategy
4. Can the agency undertake procurement in an effective and
accountable manner
Indicators at the Agency Level

Effective
Procurement

Accountability Organization
Measures Structure

STRATEGY

Internal Records
Procurement Management
Process
Staff
Capacity
THANK YOU

slcotgreave@adb.org
+ 63 2 632 4424