New Issue Brief: A Playbook for Optimizing Government Procurement
How local governments can make public spending smarter, faster, and more impactful
New York, NY – State and local governments spend a quarter of their budgets on procuring goods and services, but face significant challenges in doing so. Outdated systems, pandemic disruption, rising inflation, and public employment shortages all limit government’s ability to maximize the benefits of procurement. In a new Manhattan Institute issue brief, former Kansas City mayor Mark Funkhouser and the team at Funkhouser & Associates reframe these challenges as opportunities, and present transformative ideas aimed at seizing them.
The issue brief details common obstacles to, and best practices and successful examples of, effective public procurement. Funkhouser & Associates call for government leaders to embrace a change in mindset towards procurement, from treating it as a back-office function to a key strategic initiative. They identify relationship-building between procurement staff and the rest of government staff as a key first step, and specify five pillars to build on that foundation:
Streamlining for user-centered procurement: As one-click purchasing and side-by-side comparisons help consumers manage money and save time, procurement also stands to benefit from user-centered processes.
Focusing on outcomes and results: Tracking outcomes, requesting competitive proofs of concept, and giving procurement officers cabinet positions helps promote innovative and impactful procurement.
Recruitment and retention: Automating paperwork, freeing up time for performance-based problem solving, and regular engagement and training help procurement staff do – and feel like they do – meaningful work.
Transparency and security: Cybersecurity controls are a must-have protection against external threats, while auditing and accountability are key to minimizing waste, fraud, or corruption within the system.
Increasing efficiency and savings: Complacency is the natural foe of public governance, so regularly rebidding contracts and inspecting orders is key for maximizing cost-savings.
Read the full issue brief here.
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