Assignment 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Assignment 7 - Essay Example Studies show that the number of protests has increased at higher rate in the past three years. The State of Washington alone reported approximately 20 protests of this kind in the year 2006 (Zeigler 1). Organizations can avoid protests in various ways including maximization of competition by an agency. Agencies can maximize competition by making the process to be open while avoiding biases. Keeping the process open involves informing the public clearly about what an agency intends to do during the bidding process. All the bidding processes should be clearly documented. An organization should also ensure that all the processes listed in the document are followed. Transparency is vital in any bidding process. It can be enhanced by publishing the written procedures and policies. This can also serve as evidence against future protests. While keeping the process open it is important for an agency to ensure that specifications or requirements are not costly and restraining. The other recommendation for preventing the protest includes offering supplier training. Most protests occur due to failure to offer supplier training. Supplier training enables suppliers to gain knowledge and skills on how to offer procurement services in ethical ways. The other strategy of avoiding the protest includes being in charge. It involves accountability of the agency in the award decision making and writing procedures. Many agencies fail because they heavily depend on experts in technical assistance and evaluation processes. Experts are helpful, but agencies should only seek advice instead of making them in charge of the entire process because the purchasing lead usually makes the final decisions since they are the ones who sign the award and accept accountability even if decisions were made based on the experts’ recommendations. Protests can also be avoided by specifying the roles of both parties. This helps in preventing the public from protesting