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Offentlig upphandling används av den offentliga sektorn för att ingå avtal eller teckna kontrakt med leverantörer av varor och tjänster. Rapporter har visat att småföretag inte deltar i offentlig upphandling i samma utsträckning som större. Kostnader för företagen att ta fram anbud har angivits som orsak liksom att förfrågningsunderlagen är krångligt utformade och att kraven som ställs är irrelevanta. Kommunikationen mellan upphandlande myndigheter och företagen har beskrivits som otillräcklig och att kunskapen om det som upphandlas därmed blir lidande. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka kommunikationen mellan myndigheter och småföretag i samband med offentlig upphandling. Hur aktörerna kommunicerar, vilka hinder av kommunikativ karaktär som eventuellt förekommer samt hur dessa hinder kan övervinnas är de frågeställningar som använts. Med kvalitativ metod har aspekter av kommunikationen kunnat belysas. Sju halvstrukturerade samtalsintervjuer har genomförts med respondenter från både myndigheter och småföretag i Jönköpings län. Resultatet från undersökningen visar att aktörerna kommunicerar främst genom skriftliga former. Muntlig kommunikation undviks av myndigheterna för att värna om likabehandlingsprincipen. Det förekommer dock i vissa faser. Elektroniska kanaler används i många situationer. Företagen lämnar dock ofta sina anbud i fysisk form. Direkt kommunikation mellan aktörerna förekommer men det är indirekt kommunikation som är mest framträdande. Att formulera komplex information på ett tydligt sätt är ett av de hinder som framkommit. Hela processen måste tänkas ut i förväg av myndigheterna och förfrågningsunderlaget får normalt inte ändras i efterhand. Underlagen upplevs ibland vara väldigt omfattande och fulla av upprepningar. Oenighet om kravens betydelse för upphandlingens utgång råder. En del företagsrespondenter upplever att det ställs krav som inte tas hänsyn till, medan någon myndighetsrespondent menar att dessa krav ställs för att skapa en hög lägstanivå. Företagsrespondenterna vittnar om att det är enkelt att få svar på frågor angående otydligheter i förfrågningsunderlaget. Diskussioner om bättre lösningar på myndigheternas behov efterfrågas dock av leverantörer. Att använda ett elektroniskt upphandlingssystem kan underlätta för myndigheter i utvärderingsfasen. Systemet kan också ge anbudsgivaren en form av feedback på anbudet då det varnar för om krav har missats. / Public procurement is conducted by public sector to purchase supplies and services. Studies show that small businesses do not participate in public procurement at the same extension as big businesses. Bureaucratic formulated tender specifications and irrelevant requirements are given as some possible reasons. The communication between procurers and suppliers has been described as unsatisfactory and as a consequence, the products being asked for by the procurers are seldom the best for satisfying their needs. The purpose for this thesis is to examine the communication between public authorities and small business in public procurement. The issues for the study are how the participants communicate, which communicative obstacles might occur and how these obstacles can be overcome. A qualitative approach has been used to illuminate different aspects of the communication. Seven long interviews with representatives from both public authorities and small businesses in Jönköping county has been conducted. The result shows that the participants communicate mostly through written communication. Verbal communication is being avoided by the authorities to protect the principle of equal treatment, though it was found in some phases of the procurement process. Electronic channels are used in many situations but the tenders are often delivered in physical form. Direct communication does exist even though indirect communication is more dominant. To formulate complex information in an explicit way is one of the obstacles that was observed in the study. The whole process has to be conceived by the procurers from the start, since the tender specification as a rule cannot be changed afterwards. The tender specifications are considered very extensive by respondents from small businesses, and recurrences of information are common. They also experience that some requirements being asked for do not fill a purpose for the outcome of the process. On the other hand, some authorities refer to that the requirements creates a high lowest level and that they do have a great importance. Respondents from the small businesses seem to consider it being easy to get their questions about uncertainties in the tender specification answered, but they also want greater possibilities to discuss alternative solutions to the authorities needs. The use of an electronic procurement tool can make the evaluation phase easier for the procurers. It can also give the suppliers a kind of feedback since the system alert if some requirements in the tender are not being fulfilled.

<p>Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) has been a topic of discussion since the dawn of democracy in April 1994. Due to the entrenched inequalities of the past, economic empowerment is very important for the economic growth of the majority of South Africa&rsquo / s citizens. However, significant economic enrichment of black people has not been made, despite, economic success, legislation, state policies and programme interventions. This economic growth is to be realised through the use of preferential procurement as a policy tool for BEE. Whilst sufficient legislation has been enacted to regulate preferential procurement, to favour black people, much still seems to be lacking in the enforcement of the laws in public procurement. Central to the challenges of preferential procurement is the disharmony between the Framework legislation governing preferential procurement and BEE. This discord has seen two visions being followed for preferential procurement / the Procurement Act refers to the beneficiaries of BEE as historically disadvantaged individuals (HDI / s) and the goals for BEE are measured through specific goals which promotes narrow empowerment / the BBBEE Act on the other hand defines black people as the recipients of BEE and through the BEE Codes broad-based empowerment is promoted through seven core elements. This congruency has not served the promotion of preferential procurement, it has created a hindrance that frustrates economic growth for those it is intended. The other quandary that undermines the success of preferential procurement is willful practices engaged by both tenderers and public officials / skills deficiency in the adjudication of tenders and self-interest. The success of BEE through preferential procurement is dependent on a coherently legislated procurement environment fortified by perceptive public officials. The objective of this thesis is to analyse the impact of these challenges on the success of preferential procurement. The study will highlight the main practices that defeat the use of preferential procurement. This will include an analysis of the various legislation and the amendments thereto. In addition the enquiry will examine the proficiency of public officials in the adjudication of public tendering. Recommendations for a successful preferential public procurement environment will be made. The proposed thesis will utilise, inter alia, relevant legislation, case law, theses, journals, books and policy documents.</p>

Public procurement amounts to approximately 12% of the gross domestic product of industrialized countries. The greatest part of it is controlled by municipalities. Consequently, their procurement decisions have an enormous potential to initiate and support sustainable development. But measures that have been taken so far did not have a substantial impact on production processes and products yet. This was the starting point for heading toward one of the objectives of the European research project RELIEF (Environmental Relief Potential of Urban Action on Avoidance and Detoxification of Waste Streams through Green Public Procurement): to identify existing hurdles for green public procurement and to develop strategies for overcoming those hurdles. For this a decision-oriented view on public procurement was chosen, possible hurdles, revealed in practice, were identified with the help of a therefore developed questionnaire and their relevance for the cities participating in the RELIEF project was examined. Thus the concept of the hurdles analysis was developed. Subsequently the method was improved by expanding the questioning on other European municipalities than those taking part in the RELIEF project as well as using it within the German research project NaBesI where a case study was accomplished. Based on the experiences and outcomes of these first hurdles analyses a self-evaluation tool was developed. It shall enable municipalities to assess their hurdles for green procurement and deduce strategies on their own.

Bakgrund: De senaste åren har den offentliga upphandlingen ökat i omfattning och utgör nu ca 17 procent av Sveriges BNP. Det är viktigt att de offentliga upphandlingarna utförs effektivt och i detta arbete spelar kravspecifikationen en viktig roll. En bra kravspecifikation är en förutsättning för att den upphandlande myndigheten ska få in anbud som motsvarar det de vill ha medan en bristfällig sådan kan ha stora konsekvenser för resultatet av upphandlingen. Det är dock i mycket en komplicerad uppgift att formulera krav för en tjänst, vars specifika egenskaper gör den mer svårdefinierad än en vara. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för kravspecifikationens roll i den offentliga tjänsteupphandlingen. Mer specifikt syftar studien till att undersöka vilka förutsättningarna är för att kunna utforma en bra kravspecifikation och vilka konsekvenser en bristfällig sådan kan ha för resultatet av upphandlingen. Genomförande: Med en kvalitativ ansats och genom personliga intervjuer har upphandlares syn på kravspecifikationens betydelse och svårigheter undersökts. Fyra semistrukturerade personliga intervjuer har genomförts med fyra erfarna upphandlare, från fyra olika offentliga organisationer - två landsting och två kommuner. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att det är viktigt med god kunskap om marknaden och medvetenhet om verksamhetens behov för att en relevant kravspecifikation ska kunna utformas. En relevant och bra kravspecifikation motverkar ökade transaktionskostnader och ökar möjligheterna att den tjänst som verksamheten är i behov av levereras. Studiens resultat visar vidare att det är viktigare att kravspecifikationen är relevant och tydlig än att den är detaljrik och att funktionsbaserade kravspecifikationer har många fördelar. / Background: In recent years, the public procurement has increased in importance and it now represents about 17 percent of Sweden's GDP. It is important that the public procurement is carried out effectively and due to this the requirement specification plays an important role in the process. A good requirement specification is a condition for that the purchasing authority receives tenders that correspond to what they want; while a lack of such may have major implications for the outcome of the procurement. However, it is a complex task to draw up requirements for a service, whose particular characteristics make it more difficult to define than a commodity. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of the requirement specification's role in the public service procurement. More specifically, the study aims to examine what the conditions are to work out a good requirement specification and the consequences a lack of such may have for the outcome of the procurement. Method: With a qualitative approach and through personal interviews, the purchasers view of the importance and difficulty of the requirement specification has been examined in this study. Four semi-structured personal interviews were conducted with four senior purchasers from four different public organizations - two counties and two municipalities. Results: The findings of this study indicate that good knowledge about the market and awareness of the organization’s needs is important for the formulation of a relevant requirement specification. A relevant and good requirement specification counteract high transaction costs and increase the possibility of delivery of the, by the organization, requested and needed service. Further, this research imply that it is more important for the requirement specification to be relevant and clear than to be detailed, and that function based specifications have many benefits.

<p>Offentlig upphandling används av den offentliga sektorn för att ingå avtal eller teckna kontrakt med leverantörer av varor och tjänster. Rapporter har visat att småföretag inte deltar i offentlig upphandling i samma utsträckning som större. Kostnader för företagen att ta fram anbud har angivits som orsak liksom att förfrågningsunderlagen är krångligt utformade och att kraven som ställs är irrelevanta. Kommunikationen mellan upphandlande myndigheter och företagen har beskrivits som otillräcklig och att kunskapen om det som upphandlas därmed blir lidande.</p><p>Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka kommunikationen mellan myndigheter och småföretag i samband med offentlig upphandling. Hur aktörerna kommunicerar, vilka hinder av kommunikativ karaktär som eventuellt förekommer samt hur dessa hinder kan övervinnas är de frågeställningar som använts. Med kvalitativ metod har aspekter av kommunikationen kunnat belysas. Sju halvstrukturerade samtalsintervjuer har genomförts med respondenter från både myndigheter och småföretag i Jönköpings län.</p><p>Resultatet från undersökningen visar att aktörerna kommunicerar främst genom skriftliga former. Muntlig kommunikation undviks av myndigheterna för att värna om likabehandlingsprincipen. Det förekommer dock i vissa faser. Elektroniska kanaler används i många situationer. Företagen lämnar dock ofta sina anbud i fysisk form. Direkt kommunikation mellan aktörerna förekommer men det är indirekt kommunikation som är mest framträdande.</p><p>Att formulera komplex information på ett tydligt sätt är ett av de hinder som framkommit. Hela processen måste tänkas ut i förväg av myndigheterna och förfrågningsunderlaget får normalt inte ändras i efterhand. Underlagen upplevs ibland vara väldigt omfattande och fulla av upprepningar. Oenighet om kravens betydelse för upphandlingens utgång råder. En del företagsrespondenter upplever att det ställs krav som inte tas hänsyn till, medan någon myndighetsrespondent menar att dessa krav ställs för att skapa en hög lägstanivå.</p><p>Företagsrespondenterna vittnar om att det är enkelt att få svar på frågor angående otydligheter i förfrågningsunderlaget. Diskussioner om bättre lösningar på myndigheternas behov efterfrågas dock av leverantörer. Att använda ett elektroniskt upphandlingssystem kan underlätta för myndigheter i utvärderingsfasen. Systemet kan också ge anbudsgivaren en form av feedback på anbudet då det varnar för om krav har missats.</p> / <p>Public procurement is conducted by public sector to purchase supplies and services. Studies show that small businesses do not participate in public procurement at the same extension as big businesses. Bureaucratic formulated tender specifications and irrelevant requirements are given as some possible reasons. The communication between procurers and suppliers has been described as unsatisfactory and as a consequence, the products being asked for by the procurers are seldom the best for satisfying their needs.</p><p>The purpose for this thesis is to examine the communication between public authorities and small business in public procurement. The issues for the study are how the participants communicate, which communicative obstacles might occur and how these obstacles can be overcome. A qualitative approach has been used to illuminate different aspects of the communication. Seven long interviews with representatives from both public authorities and small businesses in Jönköping county has been conducted.</p><p>The result shows that the participants communicate mostly through written communication. Verbal communication is being avoided by the authorities to protect the principle of equal treatment, though it was found in some phases of the procurement process. Electronic channels are used in many situations but the tenders are often delivered in physical form. Direct communication does exist even though indirect communication is more dominant.</p><p>To formulate complex information in an explicit way is one of the obstacles that was observed in the study. The whole process has to be conceived by the procurers from the start, since the tender specification as a rule cannot be changed afterwards. The tender specifications are considered very extensive by respondents from small businesses, and recurrences of information are common. They also experience that some requirements being asked for do not fill a purpose for the outcome of the process. On the other hand, some authorities refer to that the requirements creates a high lowest level and that they do have a great importance.</p><p>Respondents from the small businesses seem to consider it being easy to get their questions about uncertainties in the tender specification answered, but they also want greater possibilities to discuss alternative solutions to the authorities needs. The use of an electronic procurement tool can make the evaluation phase easier for the procurers. It can also give the suppliers a kind of feedback since the system alert if some requirements in the tender are not being fulfilled.</p>

<p>Procurement in public and non-public organisations has the potential to influence product development towards more environmentally preferable products. In 2003, public procurement in Sweden was 28% of GDP. Different types of approaches can contribute some knowledge and thereby facilitate the choice of environmentally preferable products. The thesis focuses on procurement in Swedish Defence. According to a decision by the Swedish government in 1998, the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) and Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) are required to take environmental consideration in all phases of the acquisition process. The importance of a life cycle perspective is stressed in several SAF and FMV environmental documents. The starting point of this thesis was that environmental consideration should be taken in the Swedish acquisition of defence materiel, considering the whole life cycle of products. The aim was to produce suggestions for how this can be done.</p><p>In order to make this suggestion some Ecodesign tools were reviewed and evaluated and two methods for simplified Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) were compared. Suggestions of tools and methodology recommendations for environmentally preferable procurement in the Swedish defence are presented. For this purpose qualitative and/or simplified LCAs were suggested. The suggestions have been evaluated through interviews with actors in the process. When a simplified LCA is needed, the MECO assessment is recommended. Methodology recommendations for use of the MECO method in the Swedish Defence are presented. LCA is an appropriate tool for taking environmental consideration into the acquisition process, since it focuses on a product and includes its life cycle. If the environmental work lacks a life cycle perspective, there is a risk that the most significant aspects will not be considered. Four areas for use of LCA in the acquisition process were identified: Learning about environmental aspects of the product; fulfilling requirements from customers; setting environmental requirements; and choosing between alternatives.</p><p>The actors interviewed were interested in using LCA methods, but there is a need for an initiative by one or several actors if the method is to be used regularly in the process. It is important that the results are communicated within the organisations involved in the procurement process. Environmental consideration should preferably be taken early in the acquisition process and environmental questions should be integrated into other activities of the organisations involved in the procurement process. Such work would be facilitated if there were greater cooperation between the procuring and environmental units, in this case at FMV, SAF and the Swedish Ministry of Defence.</p> / QC 20100616

<p>In recent years, the general awareness of the environmental impacts that industrial production gives rise to has radically increased throughout the world. Finding ways to minimise these impacts has become a major concern of the authorities in many countries. In order to promote a more sustainable industrial production, different incentives can be used. Among these incentives, the consideration of environmental issues in public procurement is increasingly being emphasised.</p><p>While much attention regarding sustainable procurement has centred on the purchase of products, this thesis focuses on green procurement of construction contracts. The construction industry is a major contributor to environmental pollution. It consumes about half of all resources humans take from nature and accounts for about 25 – 40 per cent of all energy used and about 30 – 50 per cent of all waste generated in OECD countries.</p><p>In the procurement of products, the environmental impacts of the available products can be estimated and compared, for example by using tools such as life cycle assessments. When construction contracts are procured, assessing the suppliers’ environmental capabilities can be more challenging, as the contract to be procured has not yet been performed. However, at the same time, there are considerably more opportunities to steer the construction towards more environmentally friendly alternatives.</p><p>In the thesis, it is suggested that the environmental requirements and the environmental criteria for tender evaluation should be used in combination, in order to safeguard environmental performance in the construction project and at the same time stimulate a green development within the industrial sector. In addition, the role of the client in ensuring that the environmental requirements are fulfilled during construction work is emphasised.</p>

Lagen om offentlig upphandling specificerar att leverantörer inte får missgynnas beroende på storlek, bakgrund, ekonomiska resurser etc. Genom en grundlig litteraturöversikt fann vi variabler som visade sig vara problematiska för små och medelstora företag (SME) i en internationell kontext, vilka vi ville undersöka vidare i en svensk kontext. Vår undersökning visar att vissa variabler som identifierats har en större påverkan än andra. Vidare visar undersökningen att flera variabler påverkar de minsta företagen till större grad än övriga SME. Slutligen visar undersökningen att upplevelsen av hinder skiljer sig åt beroende på företagens deltagandegrad i upphandlingar. / The law involving public procurement specifies that suppliers cannot be discriminated against on size, background, financial resources etc. Through a thorough literature review we found variables that were problematic for SME´s in an international context, that we wanted to further investigate within a Swedish context. Based on our investigation it can be concluded that some of the variables identified have a greater impact than others. Furthermore, our investigation showed that several variables affect the smallest companies to a greater degree than the larger companies. Finally, our survey also showed that barriers differ depending on the companies' level of participation in the procurement process.

Žalieji pirkimai yra požiūris, kuris stengiasi integruoti aplinkosauginius reikalavimus į visas viešųjų pirkimų stadijas, tikslu sumažinti poveikį gamtai ir žmonių sveikatai. Žalieji pirkimai dar vadinami subalansuotais pirkimai, ekologiniais pirkimais, teisingaisiais pirkimais. Jie paremti tokiomis prielaidomis kaip vartotojų sąmoningumas, tik reikalingas pirkimas, viso gyvavimo ciklo perspektyva. Žalieji pirkimai nėra nauja koncepcija – tai jau įgyvendinama daugelyje pirmaujančių aplinkosaugos srityje Europos Sąjungos šalių ir konstatuojama gaunama nauda. Daugelis viešojo sektoriaus perkančiųjų organizacijų, vykdančių žaliuosius pirkimus ir skatinančių aplinkosaugines inovacijas, patiria realių pokyčių rinkoje. Pasirinktos efektyvios įgyvendinimo strategijos padeda pasiekti viešųjų pirkimų efektyvumo padidinimą, pagerina vietinės bendruomenės gyvenimo kokybę, padidina aplinkosauginį sąmoningumą, pagerina esamos valdžios politinį įvaizdį, padeda pasiekti aukštesnį darnaus vystymosi lygį tomis pačiomis kainomis. / Green purchasing is an approach which integrates environmental consid¬erations into all stages of the purchasing process with the goal of reducing impacts on the environment. It involves a number of considerations, including buying only what is needed, taking a life-cycle perspective of the costs and impacts of products and services. Green purchasing is not a new concept, and has been implemented by pioneer public authorities across Europe for many years. A great number of public authorities have positive experiences in this area. The implementation of green procurement by public author¬ities is effective in achieving real changes on the marketplace — support¬ing greener alternatives and promoting innovation. Effective strategies help to improve the efficiency of procurement, raise the quality of life in the local community and improve the political image of the administration. Green procurement, should not involve addi¬tional costs for a public authority — indeed money may often be saved. Although some greener products have a higher purchase price, if the whole life-cycle costs are considered, including use and disposal costs, even savings may often be achieved. There are a number of other factors which can help to keep costs down, includ¬ing a careful consideration of whether a product is really needed at all, and changes to the way procurement is organized and carried out (in some cases, greater centralization of procurement, the use of e-procurement and joint-purchasing... [to full text]