ART - State Procurement & Contracting 2003

In this article, budget, procurement, and contracting managers in 48 states were surveyed, providing descriptions of their procurement and contracting practices. The article inteprets the data and comes to certain conclusions. Five key findings are (1) information technology needs are challenging states, with some responding well, but others struggling, (2) in most states staff training needs to be improved, (3) restrictions prohibiting “best value” purchasing need to be removed, (4) states can learn from and improve practices by partnering with other governments and private organizations, and (5) most states use a hybrid of both centralized and decentralized management structures when it comes to contracting and procurement.