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An initiative of the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab

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About the Procurement Excellence Network (PEN): Transforming Procurement

Procurement is one of the most powerful tools state and local leaders have to improve resident outcomes and equitably deliver services. But in many state and local governments, procurement simply isn’t working the way it should -- RFPs take too long, not enough companies bid on contracts, and archaic procedures make it impossible to implement innovative solutions.

The goal of the GPL Procurement Excellence Network is to help cities, counties, and states transform their procurement practices—so that, ultimately, governments achieve better outcomes for residents, businesses, and community stakeholders.

Pillars of Procurement Excellence

The Government Performance Lab's Procurement Excellence Framework is a set of strategies designed to help governments use procurement and contracting to achieve better outcomes for residents.

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Efficient & Fair

Transforms the procurement process to be efficient, inviting, and transparent

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Results-Driven

Improves the outcomes of contracted programs, products, and services

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Equitable

Invests in equity to improve economic mobility and achieve better outcomes for historically marginalized populations

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Strategic

Elevates and resources procurement as a strategic function

TJ Martin

Chief Assistant City Attorney

Phoenix, Arizona

"In Phoenix, we are always looking to learn from peer communities across the country, especially when it comes to reforming procurement policies. We’ve already gained useful ideas on new tactics to try from GPL-hosted events, and we’re excited that PEN will make the process of connecting and learning easier and more targeted!"

Amber Paxton

Director, Office of Financial Empowerment

Lansing, MI

"In my department, we partner with contracted local organizations to run programs that advance economic mobility for the Lansing community. We’ve increasingly worked to write RFPs that aren’t so prescriptive, which has enabled the vendor community to offer more innovative solutions. It’s a win for us, our vendors, and the residents of Lansing."

Michael McKenna Miller

Director of Strategic Procurement

Boston, MA

"Our vision in the City of Boston is to transform procurement from a compliance function to a force for achieving our policy goals and addressing income inequality. Tools, support and templates from the GPL have helped us leverage procurement as we work to make change."

Featured Resources

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Essential Procurement Performance Metrics to Track Regularly

Procurement data is foundational to running an efficient, effective, proactive, and strategic purchasing office. If you aspire to make the procurement process faster, work with more diverse firms, leverage procurement a a strategic function, or use procurement to advance your government's economic development or social impact goals, you'll want to start tracking and using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This tool suggests common KPIs used by procurement offices across the country that take a data-driven approach to make procurement operations more efficient and effective.

The Elephant in the Room: Activity Kit on Active Contract Management

For many busy staff, it's tempting to focus on the compliance-related aspects of contracting processes: making sure insurance certificates are up to date, for example, or checking if vendors have submitted invoices on time, and then simply signing off on payment. But active contract management shifts the focus from compliance-related tasks to helping procurement staff understand how effectively vendors are meeting goals described in the RFP and enabling contract managers to work collaboratively with vendors to meet those goals. This short exercise helps staff quickly and easily understand some of the benefits of active contract management and is meant to be used in conjunction with comprehensive training.

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Request for Information (RFI)

Government employees often fear that collaborating with prospective vendors or outside stakeholders crosses over a legal line and creates an unfair advantage. However, through a Request for Information (RFI), governments can solicit ideas from the vendor community, subject matter experts, and community stakeholders while maintaining a level playing field. This RFI template will help you develop an RFI that is a powerful tool to 1) gather valuable information from the vendor community and other stakeholders to inform the design of a subsequent RFP; 2) learn about new technologies, innovations, or approaches; and 3) make decisions about project scope, program structure, and what might reasonably be asked of a vendor.

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What Is Procurement Excellence?

Increasing the effectiveness of procurement is a crucial component of improving governments’ overall performance, especially when it comes to fostering better results for residents and addressing inequities in who benefits from contracted services and programs. This document provides an overview of our framework for procurement excellence and shares examples of how state and local governments have transformed their procurement systems to be more efficient, fair, results-driven, equitable, and strategic. As we walk you through each pillar in our framework, you will see highlighted strategies your government can implement and view examples of how the Government Performance Lab has partnered with cities, counties, and states to implement these strategies and produce transformative results.

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