Showing papers on "Procurement published in 1979"

Foodgrain supply, distribution, and consumption policies within a dual pricing mechanism: a case study of Bangladesh

Abstract: The study was designed to describe the role of public distribution in Bangladesh, to identify groups benefiting from the public foodgrain distribution programme and assess their income and nutritional status, to assess the cost of the public foodgrain distribution programme, to show the inter-relationships between the public and market distribution systems and deduce their policy implications, and to evaluate the performance of domestic procurement of foodgrains in general and the relative advantage of price support versus fertilizer subsidy policies in particular The study takes a systems approach to food distribution, although it does not employ simulation as such Chapter 3 examines the workings of foodgrain supply, distribution, and consumption historically and at present Chapter 4 takes the information on the operation of the food system, analyzes the interrelationships of its various components, and projects several possible production and import scenarios for 1980 The analysis then turns to the effect government actions have on the system Chapter 5 explains how public food distribution changes the consumption levels of various income groups, and Chapter 6 examines the role government procurement plays in the wide seasonal fluctuations of domestic rice prices Finally, the paper explores two alternative policies to augment aggregate supply by increasing production

Planning pharmaceuticals for primary health care: the supply and utilization of drugs in the Third World.

Abstract: This monograph is designed to bring together in 1 place information on the selection procurement supply and distribution of pharmaceuticals especially in less developed market economies for decision makers who lack access to the literature on the subject. The international trade in pharmaceuticals the need for drugs and the limitations on their effectiveness are discussed. The history structure research and development and patent system promotional activities pricing and profitability of the transnational pharmaceutical industry are examined. Pharmaceutical production in developing countries by subsidiaries licensing agreements and appropriate technology and the stages of drug production are described. Issues in purchasing including the formulary system of drug procurement disease prevalence and therapeutic need evaluation of safety and effectiveness nomenclature criteria for selecting cost effective drugs centralize d procurement and the organization of the drug supply system are discussed. Issues in utilization including pricing prescribing and pharmacy workers are next considered. National patterns of drug distribution and delivery systems are examined. Recommendations questions for future research and a discussion of regional and international efforts to improve pharmaceutical supply and utilization systems are included.

Risk Management in Imperfect Markets: Commodity Procurement Strategy in the Food Manufacturing Sector

Abstract: Analyses of firm behavior in imperfect markets typically have stressed the nature of competition in the output or product markets, with little attention to a firm's input market behavior, its relation to product market structure, and its corresponding impact on the firm's financial performance and competitive viability. In this paper, attention is focused on the input market behavior of food-manufacturing firms operating in imperfect market structures. We briefly consider the nature of the input market environment and the procurement options available for the most important inputs in most foodmanufacturing firms-agricultural commodities. Following that, the complex factors which simultaneously affect the firm's commodity procurement strategy are explored. While internal firm considerations-financial viability, product diversification, and management objectives-are briefly discussed, primary emphasis is placed on the product market structure in which the firm is competing and its influence on commodity procurement strategy. Some interrelationships between product market structure and input market behavior are postulated, and their implications for product price levels and volatility are suggested. Theoretically, a firm would be expected to minimize the unit cost of raw materials purchased in order to maximize its profits and survive in a perfectly competitive environment. But food-manufacturing firms deal in volatile and uncertain commodity markets and in imperfect market structures where the actions of rivals in commodity (input) markets and product (output) markets may influence significantly the firm's optimal procurement strategy and overall performance. Kaysen has suggested that "the firm in the less competitive market can choose whether to seek maximum profit or to be satisfied with some 'acceptable' return and to seek other goals. . . . The more dominant the position of any particular firm in a single market . . the wider will be its range of significant choice" (p. 90). We shall explore whether a similar line of reasoning seems appropriate in explaining the commodity procurement behavior of foodmanufacturing firms, as we consider the complex of factors that would be relevant in developing a game theory or similar risk-management model for firms in a variety of imperfect product market settings.

Delays in Construction of Nuclear Power Plants

Abstract: Fifteen separate interviews were conducted with 49 design and construction staff personnel representing five organizations. The results indicated that the most important items in the design-construction cycle of a nuclear power plant are overall coordination, equipment availability, design-construct lead-time, and handling of design changes. Coordination encompasses activities necessary to handle all the other high impact delay cases. Use of computerized systems facilitates storing, handling, and sorting of the data for the many different tasks of the coordinating teams. The southeastern utilities have taken major steps in development and implementation of management information systems and innovative project control systems. The Tennessee Valley Authority and Duke Power Company have made impressive progress in objective identification and system implementation. Other companies have requested their design-construct contractors to develop and use computer-based systems for scheduling, procurement, and startup testing.

Foodgrain supply, distribution, and consumption policies within a dual pricing mechanism: a case study of Bangladesh

Abstract: The study was designed to describe the role of public distribution in Bangladesh, to identify groups benefiting from the public foodgrain distribution programme and assess their income and nutritional status, to assess the cost of the public foodgrain distribution programme, to show the inter-relationships between the public and market distribution systems and deduce their policy implications, and to evaluate the performance of domestic procurement of foodgrains in general and the relative advantage of price support versus fertilizer subsidy policies in particular. The study takes a systems approach to food distribution, although it does not employ simulation as such. Chapter 3 examines the workings of foodgrain supply, distribution, and consumption historically and at present. Chapter 4 takes the information on the operation of the food system, analyzes the interrelationships of its various components, and projects several possible production and import scenarios for 1980. The analysis then turns to the effect government actions have on the system. Chapter 5 explains how public food distribution changes the consumption levels of various income groups, and Chapter 6 examines the role government procurement plays in the wide seasonal fluctuations of domestic rice prices. Finally, the paper explores two alternative policies to augment aggregate supply by increasing production

The Management System: Its Functions and Processes

Abstract: What is management? In recent years, a number of schools or approaches to management have evolved. What is rather upsetting to the manager is that there are a variety of unrelated approaches without any suggestion of their relationship to each other. Even more upsetting is that some of these approaches seem to be based on the disciplines of particular researchers rather than their ability to help managers. The study explores the rationale underlying two predominant orientations. One is concerned with the process of management, while the other emphasizes the function of management. The managerial process involves such intuitive principles as planning, organizing, and staffing. The managerial function involves arranging equipment to perform functions such as procurement, production, and adaptation. The goal is to illustrate the relationship of these approaches to each other and to specific managerial needs. The study was conducted among top managers in six municipal organizations. The research utilized a qu...

A Decision Methodology for Coal Inventory Optimization

Abstract: The procurement of coal as a power plant fuel is formally treated in a decision analysis methodology to assess optimal purchasing and stockpiling strategies. The uncertainties which characterize future prediction of fuel burn, receipt, and market price are expressed in a probabilistic multiperiod inventory model. A dynamic programming optimization procedure of the decision problem is developed. The effects of forecasting uncertainties and price variations are examined in several case studies and the value of perfect information is estimated.

Key Issues in Procurement Strategy in Advanced Technology Organisations

Abstract: Recent years of shortages, inflation, and rapid advances in technologies causing product obsolescence and tremendous cost decreases—such as integrated circuits—have had pronounced effects on procurement strategy. This article examines several key issues which will shape procurement strategy in advanced technology organisations over the next decade.

Beginning of Military Cost Analysis 1950-1961

Abstract: : At the time the RAND Corporation formed, just after World War II, the traditional way of looking at military procurement was in terms of a piece of hardware like an airplane, and making decisions on the promise of lighter, higher, faster, further, or more payload. RAND started its work using these same criteria. Fairly early in the game, however, it seemed to some RAND researchers that other things were involved. For example, real estate, people, supply and maintenance were required. It wasn't just delivering the bomb--it was what the bomb did to the economic, social and political structure of the country in which it was delivered. There was the cost of producing the delivery vehicle and the bomb, and their impact on the U.S. economy and society, or those of its allies. These were important, too. As a consequence, by 1948, the concept of what we now call Weapon Systems Analysis had been formulated. In this, RAND tried to bring together the political, economic and social, as well as the technical and military considerations. It was not easy to find one way or one unit for expressing this heterogeneous set of criteria and parameters. Keywords: Cost models, Program budgeting, PPBS(Planning Programming Budgeting System).

Challenges and Controversies in the Protection of Archaeological Resources

Abstract: I think the following paper by S. Alan Skinner is important in two ways. First, it shows how, in the United States, if an archeological contractor wishes to take issue with an agency's procurement policies, he or she can use standard federal government protestation procedures to do so. Most of us are unfamiliar with these procedures, and Skinner's paper provides a valuable primer for those who may have to use them in the future. Second, I. think Skinner's paper is important for its demonstration of a distinction between procurement problems that can be effectively addressed through case-by-case protestation and those that cannot. Note that in Skinner's case, the Comptroller General did not comment on the archeologists' concern about curation capabilities and, perhaps even more significantly, did not deal with the agency's policy of awarding contracts based largely on cost, without solicitation or evaluation of research proposals. I doubt if the Comptroller's failure to fully consider these matters...

The Effect of Price Competition on Weapon System Acquisition costs

Abstract: : This paper examines the impact of price competition on weapon systems acquisition. The multidimensional impact of competition on price and non-price aspects of weapon system production and acquisition are discussed. The importance of cost quantity relationships for measuring the effect of competition on price and the theoretical basis of those relationships are reviewed. The problems of and the techniques for accomplishing the transfer of technology associated with competition for production contracts are briefly outlined. Previous estimates of savings due to competition are reviewed, and their underlying methodology criticized. It is proposed that the introduction of competition be analyzed as an investment. The eventual reductions in procurement costs must be balanced against the initial costs of introducing competition and establishing a second source. The opportunity cost of government funds should be incorporated by calculating the net discounted present value or the rate of return of introducing competition for the procurement of a particular system. Finally, conclusions and policy recommendations are presented, based upon both empirical analyses and qualitative findings from interviews.

The next decade of logistics research

Abstract: Pathbreaking logistics research over the next 10 years will focus on systems problems. Whereas past research generally has taken a “bottom-up” approach, future investigations are likely to pursue a “top-down” philosophy. Specifically, attention will concentrate on diagnosis of systems' improvement potentials; easy-to-use analytic approaches, inherently approximative, will be devised for quickly ascertaining whether a complex operating system can be substantially and effectively improved. Theories to assist in overall systems design, particularly the setting of boundaries and buffers among systems components, will be developed. At the same time, techniques for accurately forecasting future systems performance will be investigated. Underlying such research will be efforts to gain better understanding of management information requirements, including approaches for monitoring systems performance and providing early warning detection of systems degradation Improved management information systems will have to be coupled with appropriate design of managerial organizations and assignment of decision making responsibilities. Important avenues of research will he development of robust approaches, that is, both mathematical techniques and organizational approaches that are not too adversely affected by limited data, a changing environment, and human frailly. Finally, critical research will be directed at the implementation process, especially the interaction among initiation, design, testing and ultimate adoption This prognosis will explore the above themes in the context of large-scale, complex systems. The decision areas will encompass inventory replenishment, multiechelon hierarchies for stockage and maintenance, procurement, transportation, scheduling, facilities planning, budgeting, reliability and personnel management.

Marketing of aman paddy with special reference to the government procurement programme in two selected areas of bangladesh

Abstract: The study was undertaken to estimate marketable surplus of different farm size groups and their channels of marketing with respect to Aman paddy. The extent of farmer participation in selling paddy to the government procurement centre was also examined. The study indicated that all size groups sell paddy immediately after harvest though about half of them buy back in the off-season at a higher price. The main cause of immediate sales was the need for consumption goods. The government procurement programme of paddy benefited the intermediaries more than the farmers because the mechanism of procurement provided little incentive to farmers for selling at the procurement centres.

Statistical Methods in Sole Source Contract Negotiation.

Abstract: : A scenario is described which involves ill-defined elements of conflict and cooperation: the acquisition of military systems by the Department of Defense (DoD) from large corporations. Current practices lead to situations in which DoD must deal with a sole source and thus forego savings which might be realized from competition between contractors. In order to deal with this situation, the Armed Services Procurement Regulations (ASPR) prescribes procedures which must be employed in the analysis and negotiation of sole source price proposals. These time-consuming procedures generate enormous proposal backlogs for government price analysts who, because of time pressure, may not be able to do a sufficiently thorough and accurate analysis upon which to base their negotiation position. This analysis paralysis also causes payment delays which, in turn, force contractors to borrow working capital and suffer capital costs. It is clearly in the best interests of all parties to expedite the processing of these proposals. This has been accomplished by developing statistical sampling and estimation techniques which, unlike some classical procedures, are not vulnerable to exploitation through the use of clever padding strategies.

The invitation to tender

Abstract: Outlines the procedures used in Central Government when compiling an Invitation to Tender. The author points out that one supplier is unlikely to provide a total system; so care is needed when selecting. The first step is the production of the Operational Requirement which details the job and the organisational needs. The Government Procurement procedures for dedicated computer systems are described, and the way in which tenders are assessed and selected. Some guidance is given regarding matters which should be specified in the Invitation to Tender. The paper goes on to discuss the similar procedures for the procurement of computer services listing what the service industry can be expected to provide. The paper ends with a list of 6 ways in which the user can lay the foundations for a good Invitation to Tender.

Service Delivery to the Handicapped The Role of the Federal Procurement Process Part III. Appealing Contract Award

Abstract: In this concluding segment of the three-part series on the federal procurement process and service delivery, the focus is on the appeal-of-award supposition. Following the major topics of program definition and selection of contractors, Part III implies by its very presence that offerors to federal solicitations may need to expand their proposal-preparation procedure to include a monitoring function, one calculated to yield the facts surrounding just how the institution's bid was processed through the agency's procurement model.Why one offer is selected over another remains speculative to an extent — not that it could be otherwise, for the federal procurement process cannot ever be totally objective. Nevertheless, the process must favor objective review, shunning the purely subjective but lending itself to subfective and intuitive insights. Empirical assessment, however, is the backbone of any justifiable evaluation procedure. It is in this arena that marked differences between real/ideal models begin to ...

The National Energy Conservation Policy Act: An Evaluation

Abstract: A qualitative analysis is made of the landmark National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA) of 1978 to examine its basic principles and objectives, how it proposes to meet those objectives, and the extent to which they are likely to be met. The authors feel that, while the Act makes some progress in defining the principles of conservation, not enough significance is granted to the economics of energy supply and demand and the value of market signals; NECPA should be evaluated on the basis of the amount, the speed, and the cost of energy that can be saved. They also feel that vagueness in the text reflects the lack of consensus in defining specific conservation measures and te skepticism many feel toward government participation. Some of the constraints on utility participation in the Title II residential program, for example, are viewed as shortsighted. The major controvery over NECPA involves Title IV, which substitutes government-imposed energy-efficiency standards for pricing efficiency, although economicaly rational energy use will probably result from either approach. Two problems - lifecycle cost and procurement practices, both of which could discourage solar technologies - are noted for Title V. (DCK)

Decision process simulation models of defense contractor behavior

Abstract: The demand for defense systems is determined by a single buyer - the U.S. Department of Defense. In such an environment traditional competitive market mechanisms cannot be expected to operate effectively. Historically, the objective of procurement policies has been to prevent excess profits. This has resulted in bilateral contractual arrangements based on cost reimbursement, with low profits for the contractor and with the government bearing most of the risks. However, studies which have investigated incentive contracts conclude that their effectiveness in achieving DOD costs and performance objectives cannot be generalized.This paper describes the development of decision process simulation models describing defense contractor motivation, management and performance. The computerized models employ feedback/adaptation/search mechanisms to describe the internal decision making behavior of defense contractors at the project and corporate levels. It is expected that the simulation models will provide the basis for generating and testing various hypothetical incentive schemes.

The United Nations Development Program: follow-up investment and procurement benefits

Abstract: The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is the major technical assistance fund in the UN family of institutions. By purchasing goods and services, it affects developed and developing states alike. As well as distributing assistance, UNDP attempts to stimulate follow-up investment and procures goods and services from member states. UNDP project expenditures are correlated with public and private follow-up investment, but the relationship is rather weak. On the procurement side, developed states receive subcontracts, equipment orders, and fellowship students in direct relationship to their contributions to UNDP, and developing states attract employment possibilities for their nationals as UNDP experts in direct relationship to their contributions. Developed states receive the largest returns from UNDP procurement. Providing multilateral assistance is UNDP's primary activity, but the purchase of equipment, the generation of investment opportunities, and the employment of experts provide economic incentives for both developing and developed states.

The Impact of the All-Volunteer Force on Physician Procurement and Retention in the Army Medical Department, 1973-1978

Abstract: : This study analyzes the planning which occured and the provisions of the major personnel procurement programs which were established to recruit and retain physicians in the All-Volunteer Army. The investigation is focused on an evaluation of the effectiveness of these procurement programs during the period 1973-1978 and an analysis of the reasons for program performance during the period studied. An assessment of the ability of the All-Volunteer Army to attract and retain sufficient physicians to accomplish its mission is offered. Primary research methodology consits of an extensive review of Congressional testimony concerning the thesis topic during the period 1972 through 1978, and a comparison of this testimony over a period of time. A review of pertinent military and civilian literature is provided. The research reveals that during its first five years of existence, the all-volunteer force experiment has had a seriously negative impact on Army medical officer procurement. Fundamental flaws in military physician procurement and retention programs, compounded by inconsistent as well as poorly-timed efforts to remedy them have significantly hindered optimum program effectiveness.