Ensure Customer Focus In Procurement

Ensure Customer Focus in Procurement

Background

In most federal agencies, an internal office assesses procurements by
utilizing a variety of review activities, including Procurement
Management Reviews (PMRs). A 1982 executive order directs agency heads
and procurement executives to implement effective procurement systems.1
It also requires agency procurement executives to evaluate the
performance of the agency's procurement system against specific criteria
and certify that such criteria have been met. System criteria guidelines
were established by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in
1984 and were intended to serve as guides for agencies in establishing
and reviewing their procurement systems. While the system criteria
established by OFPP address the effectiveness and efficiency of the
system, they tend to focus on the process as opposed to the outcomes of
procurements. The criteria fail to reflect the reinventing principles
advocated by the National Performance Review, including a focus on
results for the line manager.

Need for Change

An evergrowing body of rules and regulations has emerged as the
government has tried to reduce the incidence of fraud and prevent waste
of taxpayer dollars. An OFPP survey of federal line managers indicates
that many managers believe procurement professionals focus on meeting
process requirements and rules at the expense of fast and reliable
service, quality results, and customer needs. The survey also documents
considerable miscommunication and lack of trust between line managers
and procurement professionals, a further impediment to effective
procurement programs.2

The OFPP survey supports the conclusion that customer input should be
considered in measuring the effectiveness of procurement services. The
goal of procurement organizations is to provide quality supplies and
services required by users when they are needed, at a reasonable price,
and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Line managersthe
customersshould determine quality and timeliness, not the procurement
organization that supports them. Compliance with laws and regulations
should be one criterion in assessing the effectiveness of procurement
services, but so too should customer input regarding the quality and
timeliness of services provided.

Some agencies have recognized the importance of and need for considering
customer input. For example, one procurement organization within the
Department of Commerce is establishing a board of directors, composed of
seniorlevel customers, to rate the procurement organization against
mutually agreedupon standards.3 The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration now includes customer input as one of its PMR elements.

Good customer relations will restore balance to the contracting
officer's basic role of providing excellent customer service within the
limitations of law and regulations. Customeroriented procurement
programs will refocus attention from the means to the ends.

Action

Revise Executive Order 12352 to conform to the new vision for federal
procurement.

Cross References to Other NPR Accompanying Reports

Creating Quality Leadership and Management, QUAL02: Improve Government
Performance Through Strategic and Quality Management.

Streamlining Management Control, SMC03: Change the Focus of the
Inspectors General, and SMC05: Improve the Effectiveness of the General
Accounting Office Through Increased Customer Feedback.

Endnotes

1. Executive Order 12352, "Federal Procurement Reforms," March 17, 1982.

2. Merit Systems Protection Board and Office of Federal Procurement
Policy, January 1993.

3. U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of the Secretary, Office of
Procurement Operations.