ART - Book Review - The Procurement Revolution, 2003

The document is a book review of "The Procurement Revolution" edited by Mark A. Abramson and Roland S. Harris III. The book is a collection of previously published monographs from the IBM Endowment for the Business of Government, and it aims to examine the state of government procurement as we enter the 21st century. The book is organized into three themes: the transformation from buying goods to buying services, the movement away from "command and control" relationships to partnerships, and the shift from paper-based procurement to electronic buying. The review provides a summary of each chapter in the book. The chapters in the first theme discuss the need for improvements in government procurement, the benefits of a partnership model for procurement, the use of performance-based contracting, and the challenges and opportunities of IT outsourcing. The chapters in the second theme focus on the recommended relationship between the contract administrator and the contractor, as well as successful public-private partnerships around the world. The chapters in the third theme discuss e-procurement in state governments and the role of dynamic pricing auctions in e-commerce. Overall, the review praises the book for its topical and well-documented subject areas, and recommends it as a broad-based introduction to innovations in public procurement.