CIPS assignment example

CIPS Practitioner Corporate Award Sample

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CIPS Assignment Example: Sourcing Essentials

Executive Summary

This report evaluates how UN Women (Pakistan) applies four distinct sourcing approaches: E-Sourcing, WEPs-Based Partnerships, Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP), and Direct, Ethical Sourcing to deliver value-for-money while advancing sustainability, gender equality, and ethical procurement. Operating under the stringent UN and local Pakistani regulatory frameworks, the organisation fuses global best-practices with a strong social mandate to ensure procurement decisions achieve transformative social impact and operational efficiency.

When applied to ICT and software license procurement, e-sourcing leverages digital platforms such as UNGM and Quantum ERP to widen supplier participation, achieve procurement transparency, and reduce contract cycle times at UN Women (Pakistan). Although cost-effective and scalable, e-sourcing requires mitigation measures to include the rural and digitally marginalised cohort of suppliers.

WEPs-Based partnerships connect UN Women (Pakistan)’s procurement processes to gender equality outcomes by engaging compliant suppliers with the trademark Women’s Empowerment Principles. When applied to the capacity-building services category spend, this collaborative model builds sustainable, long-term value (but demands major investment in supplier development to avoid dependency).

Notably, the GRP approach inculcates gender considerations across procurement cycles, particularly for goods and services from local women-owned SMEs in rural Pakistan. It drives socio-economic empowerment at the grassroots level; although systematic expansion, targeted capacity-building, and redefinition of value-for-money beyond price alone are required to drive its sustainability.

Lastly, direct, ethical sourcing ensures traceability and fairness in procuring artisan goods or training materials directly from marginalised Pakistani producers. Direct procurement bypasses exploitative intermediaries, thereby delivering strong reputational benefits and consequently sustains local livelihoods – albeit with higher oversight and logistical challenges.

The report also introduces a weighted supplier appraisal checklist prioritising gender equality, ethical standards, service quality, and long-term sustainability. Implementating the proposed appraisal checklist will strengthen supplier selection, manage procurement risks, uphold sourcing transparency, and build readiness among underserved suppliers.

The strategic recommendations call for an integrated sourcing policy manual, province-wide supplier development programmes, data-driven performance dashboards, scaling GRP to high-value contracts, and piloting blockchain-based traceability for ethical sourcing. Collectively, these actions will consolidate UN Women (Pakistan)’s position as a leader in socially responsible and impact-driven procurement.

Introduction

In a complex global procurement landscape, the UN Women (Pakistan)’s mission of inclusive development, gender equality, and sustainable procurement stands out due to strategic choice of sourcing approaches. Unlike commercial entities, however, the UN does not pursue outsourcing or profit-driven sourcing practices but instead uses approaches as dictated by ethical, rights-based, and inclusive frameworks (UN Women, 2022). When powered by underlying frameworks such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), procurement goes beyond organisational efficiency to exemplify inclusive, ethical, and impact-driven outcomes (CIPS, 2023). In support of the UN Women (Pakistan) procurement principles are models like the Kraljic Matrix, the Sourcing Continuum, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and Porter’s Five Forces that help to analyse the sourcing environment. Based on factors such as strengths, risks, and opportunities, a comprehensive supplier appraisal checklist was developed with a special focus on locally-produced services recommending a selection practice that complements UN Women’s ethical mandates, Pakistani procurement legislation, and value-for-money standards.

1.1 UN Women (Pakistan) Sourcing Context

Procurement at UN Women (Pakistan) is guided by internal and global frameworks including: UNGM and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) policies (especially Goal 5 and Goal 17); Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) which promote inclusive supply chains; the UN Procurement Manual; and local compliance structures – including partnerships with Pakistani provincial women’s commissions / ministries and national Financial Rules (UN Women, 2024). This intricate sourcing environment presents constraints and enablers: for example, UN Women (Pakistan) faces restrictions on vendor engagement requiring strict due diligence or adherence to UN’s global frameworks that promote transparent, collaborative sourcing as illustrated in the table below:

 

UN Women (Pakistan) Procurement Drivers and Constraints

Procurement Drivers Procurement Constraints
Compliance with SDG 5 & Gender Equality Mandate A limited GRP-ready pool of vendors
Transparency & Accountability Standards

(UN Financial Regulations and Rules)

Risk-averse bureaucracy and rigid rules delaying approvals
Stakeholder (Donors, partner agencies and community) scrutiny Fragmented sourcing systems
Value-for-Money + Social Impact Mandate (supplier inclusion, women’s empowerment) Resistance to change in sourcing processes

 Fig. 1: A table showing UN Women (Pakistan) procurement drivers and constraints.

 

The procurement categories span across ICT, capacity building, and locally-produced services; with each spend category corresponding to a unique sourcing strategy depending on spend value, risk profile, and supplier availability. For example, collaboration with women-led businesses and social enterprises for catering services and branded materials is encouraged under the Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP) Toolkit while an e-sourcing option ensures traceable compliance in high-value ICT procurement (UN Women, 2022). Notably, the UN Procurement Practitioner’s Handbook (2021) discourages outsourcing due to the inherent risks of value dilution, reduced control, and accountability issues. The aim of this study is to evaluate the contextual relevance, application, and the implications for value creation to four supplier relationship models including E-Sourcing, WEPs-Based Partnerships, Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP), and Direct, Ethical Sourcing with specific categories of spend as shown in the figure below:

Fig. 2: Sourcing approaches versus spend categories at UN Women (Pakistan).

 1.2 Strategic Frameworks and Analysis Models

UN Women (Pakistan) operates under a highly regulated procurement environment governed by the UN Financial Regulations, General Conditions of Contract, and the UN Global Marketplace (UNGM) protocols (UN Women, 2024). All procurement decisions are made pursuant to strict adherence with ethical standards, transparency, value for money, and inclusion especially regarding women-owned businesses and suppliers from underrepresented sectors (UNGM, 2023). The sourcing approaches will therefore be analysed using frameworks such as Porter’s Five Forces, the Kraljic’s Matrix, and Sustainable Procurement Maturity Models chosen for their deep strategic lens. The recommended supplier appraisal checklist updates are considerate of risks, organisational / supplier capacity, compliance, and gender equity indicators.

 2.0 E-Sourcing

E-sourcing refers to the use of digital platforms and technologies to manage sourcing activities including but not limited to supplier identification, tendering, evaluation, and contract award (Auriemma, 2023) as shown in the diagram:

Fig. 3: A sample E-Sourcing workflow diagram.

2.1 Overview

Primarily, the UN Women (Pakistan) carries out e-sourcing through the UNGM systems and a cloud-based procurement platform, Quantum ERP, to facilitate the key public sector principles of transparency, competitive bidding, and auditability (UNGM, 2023; UN Women, 2024) and cognisant to the CIPS (2023) guidance on digital procurement. The UN Women favours e-sourcing because the approach encourages wider participation from Pakistani SMEs and women-owned businesses, enhances corporate visibility, and significantly reduces procurement cycle times (Ramirez & Lee, 2023).

2.2 Category of Spend: ICT Equipment and Software Licences

UN Women (Pakistan) regularly procures ICT assets like laptops, video conferencing systems, cybersecurity tools, and enterprise software to support programming needs and daily operations across remote offices in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, or Sindh. Following an analysis of Porter’s Five Forces (Choi & Carter, 2023), this category of spend is ideal for e-sourcing due to the demand for high specification clarity (standardised products), the presence of a strong competition in local and regional markets, the large number of qualified vendors on the UNGM platform, and the relatively low risk, non-strategic classification of ICT equipment and software licenses according to the Kraljic (1983) matrix. At UN Women (Pakistan), e-sourcing follows a structured process where shortlisted vendors are invited via Request for Quotation (RFQ) or Invitation to Bid (ITB). Next, all supplier responses are digitally logged, evaluated, and compared using pre-programmed weighted criteria in the Quantum ERP system for objectivity (UN Women, 2023b).

 

2.3 Justification and Strategic Analysis

The following table illustrates the rationale behind e-sourcing for ICT equipment and software licences at UN Women (Pakistan) using key sourcing models:

 

Criteria Analysis
Kraljic Matrix Classification ●     Leverage Item: High supply risk, high impact

●     Several suppliers available

●     Cost-sensitive.

Supplier Relationship Type ●     Transactional: Limited interaction post-contract

●     Commoditised market.

Porter’s Five Forces ●     High Supplier Competition

●     Low Buyer Switching Costs

●     Low Risk of New Entrants due to standardisation

Market Type ●     Perfect Competition due to multiple prequalified suppliers on the UNGM/Quantum ERP systems
Sourcing Impact ●     Enables price discovery

●     Fosters inclusion of diverse suppliers including women-led MSMEs

Digital Procurement Trend ●     Matches the UN system-wide digitalisation goals and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption & Production)

Fig. 4: An analysis of UN Women (Pakistan) rationale for e-sourcing ICT equipment and software licenses.

 2.4 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

E-sourcing can create barriers for small, rural vendors without access to IT tools or digital skills – thus, UN Women mitigates this bias with capacity-building webinars and help-desk support in local languages during procurement cycles in sync with the World Bank (2022) inclusive procurement principles as fully described in the table below:

 

Aspect Description
Strengths ●     Transparent

●     Cost-efficient

●     Scalable across categories

●     Mitigates corruption

Weaknesses ●     Limited flexibility during negotiations

●     Assumes digital literacy among suppliers

Opportunities ●     Enables procurement analytics

●     Supports supplier diversity monitoring

Threats ●     Excludes vendors in rural Pakistan with poor connectivity or no UNGM registration.

Fig. 5: A SWOT analysis of the UN Women (Pakistan) e-sourcing approach.

 2.5 Evaluative Commentary

The non-strategic e-sourcing strategy demonstrates a high affinity to UN’s public sector procurement goals: value for money, auditability, gender responsiveness, and fairness (UN Women, 2025). However, e-sourcing only suits categories like ICT and basic supplies but is less ideal for services requiring qualitative judgement or co-creation such as research consultancy and behaviour change campaigns at UN Women (Pakistan) according to Chinwe & Batool (2023) literature. Therefore, whereas e-sourcing is efficient on transactional spend, it must be augmented by offline dialogue or pre-bid conferences where the spend category involves strategic or ambiguous deliverables. Additionally, UN Women (Pakistan) must routinely monitor supplier feedback on the procurement platform’s accessibility to confirm the sourcing tools do not inadvertently reinforce structural inequalities particularly among women-owned rural enterprises (Suleiman & Chowdhury, 2022).

 

3.0 WEPs-Based Partnerships

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) is a joint initiative by UN Women and UN Global Compact which serves as a framework for promoting gender equality across the value chain as UN Women (2023) asserts. Typically, a WEPs-based partnership involves technical assistance, joint training, and shared monitoring as per the UNSDG 5 (Gender Equality) and UNSDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) chapters. Notably, WEPs differ from conventional supplier relationships in that they are developmental, collaborative, and long-term oriented; making them suitable for connecting procurement to sustainable UN Women (Pakistan) development objectives as the figure below illustrates.

 

Fig. 6: How  UN Women (Pakistan) WEPs-based partnerships connect sourcing to the UNSDG development goals.

3.1 Overview

UN Women (Pakistan) actively engages with its WEPs signatories to co-create gender-inclusive procurement ecosystems by applying the principles as a strategic sourcing lens, not just a supplier screening mechanism.

3.2 Application to Category of Spend

UN Women (Pakistan) frequently commissions service providers for capacity building and gender training services like gender audits, feminist training modules, capacity-building of police or judiciary, and national policy consultations (UN Global Compact, 2022). These services are classified as a strategic spend due to their high impact on programming outcomes, the limited number of competent and compliant service providers, and the high co-dependence on shared UN Women (Pakistan) values and the sourcing approach. The organisation, therefore, only seeks local suppliers already subscribing to the WEPs tenets, or those willing to fully adopt feminist principles and participatory ethics to ensure a consistent delivery.

3.3 Justification

The following table uses selected CIPS frameworks to justify the strategic fit of WEPs-based partnerships under this spend category:

 

Model Application
Kraljic Matrix ●     Strategic Item: High risk, high value

●     Tailored delivery

●     Long-term relational investment

Sourcing Strategy ●     Collaborative/Developmental: Mutual learning, innovation, shared goals
Supplier Preference Matrix ●     Core Supplier: Few high-value providers

●     Deeply integrated

Contract Type ●     Output-based with KPIs: Gender inclusion metrics, training quality, behavioural impact
Supplier Enablement ●     Supplier support in WEPs adoption, joint branding in advocacy initiatives
UN Procurement Manual Alignment ●     Conforms with “best value for money” through quality and social impact, not just price

Fig. 7: A strategic evaluation of WEPs-based partnerships for gender training services.

 3.4 SWOT Analysis

The table below summarises a strategic SWOT analysis of WEPs-based partnerships for capacity-building and gender training services:

 

Aspect Description
Strengths ●     Enhances brand alignment, quality assurance, and gender impact
Weaknesses ●     Long supplier onboarding process

●     Requires resource investment in supplier development

Opportunities ●     Influences market norms, develops local feminist expertise
Threats ●     Risk of overdependence on limited number of aligned suppliers

●     Potential for drift in mission

Fig. 8: A SWOT analysis of WEPs-based partnerships at UN Women (Pakistan).

 3.5 Commentary

The UN Women WEPs-based partnerships transfigures procurement from a traditionally transactional function into a strategic tool for social transformation. At the “Engage” and “Influence” stages, the WEPs approach exemplifies CIPS’ Responsible Sourcing Model; especially as it significantly shapes supplier behaviour beyond contractual compliance (CIPS, 2022). The capacity-building service category at UN Women (Pakistan) is particularly suitable for a WEPs-based partnership because feminist expertise is rarely found and cannot be commodified – under these circumstances, shared political values, relational capital, and mutual understanding are more valuable than any market competition.

However, UN Women (Pakistan) should continue its efforts to broaden the supplier base to avoid supplier dependency and enhance resilience by nurturing emerging feminist consultancies in underrepresented rural provinces. Furthermore, a tiered partnership model which categorises suppliers as Mentors, Learners, or Champions based on their WEPs engagement level with UN Women could help diversify the impact and to target investments more efficiently (OECD, 2022).

4.0 Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP)

As a routine sourcing approach, Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP) infuses gender considerations across the procurement cycle – everything from the market analysis and tender design to the contract award and supplier evaluation – as discussed by the Amos (2024) studies. In the context of UN Women (Pakistan), GRP sourcing for routine spend categories operationalise gender equality both as a criteria and an outcome of procurement decisions (UN Women, 2022).

4.1 Overview of GRP in the UN Women (Pakistan) Context

The organisation has positioned GRP as a core enabler for Pakistani women’s local capacity development, economic empowerment, and intersectional inclusion by redesigning pre-qualification processes to be more inclusive, increasing women-owned or women-led enterprises (WOBs/WLEs) in their supply chains, and addressing barriers to market access for example in finance, registration, and digital literacy.

4.2 Sourcing Goods and Services from Local Women-Owned SMEs as a Leverage Spend Category

The GRP model is most prominently applied in procurement of digital content, event services, catering, textiles, and supplies sourced from community-based women’s cooperatives and small enterprises in rural Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Although these categories are classified as leverage or routine items under the Kraljic Matrix, UN Women (Pakistan) treats them as strategic due to their potential for socio-economic transformation in the respective communities.

4.3 Strategic Justification

The analysis below demonstrates how GRP confers with key CIPS models in support of inclusive procurement without compromising UN procurement principles:

 

Model / Lens Strategic Fit
Kraljic Matrix ●     Leverage Item: Low risk, high volume

●     Used to build local gender equity

UN Supplier Diversity Framework ●     Expands procurement to underrepresented women-owned businesses
Triple Bottom Line (TBL) ●     Promotes social (women’s empowerment), environmental (local, low-emission sourcing), and economic value
UN Procurement Manual ●     When the long-term impact is considered, GRP resonates with “best value for money” (UN Women, 2023)
Risk Mitigation ●     De-risks supply chain dependence by expanding the supplier pool and strengthening local area economies

Fig. 9: Analysis models and frameworks justifying GRP sourcing.

 

Moreover, the benefits depicted in the figure below justify the adoption of GRP as a sourcing approach:

Fig. 10: Benefits of the GRP sourcing model.

 

4.4 Barriers and Enablers

 The following barriers and enablers are specific to the GRP sourcing model at UN Women (Pakistan):

 

Aspect Examples
Barriers ●     Informality

●     Limited financial literacy

●     Lack of procurement readiness

●     Patriarchal market dynamics

Enablers ●     Capacity-building workshops (e.g., via the JAZBA programme)

●     Simplified tenders

●     Pre-bid coaching clinics

Fig. 11: Barriers and enablers of the GRP sourcing approach.

 

4.5 Evaluation

GRP as present in the Country Programme Action Plan (2023–2027) is a transformative shift from gender-neutral to gender-intentional procurement for UN Women (Pakistan), linking the organisation’s procurement to national gender policy goals and the Economic Framework for Women’s Empowerment (GoP, 2021). Strategically, GRP supports horizontal equity by targeting historically excluded enterprises. Unlike WEPs-based partnerships which focus on institutional partners, GRP targets grassroots economic actors, many of whom are entering procurement systems for the first time. As a result, tendering designs and evaluation mechanisms have been adapted to reduce technical complexity and instead build in mentoring. However, GRP requires a systems-thinking approach to overcome the inherent procurement biases: for example, defining ‘value for money’ through gender lenses means prioritising impact per dollar spent, not surface cost-efficiency. To institutionalise GRP, UN Women (Pakistan) should expand its GRP Vendor Roster by province and sector, entrench gender-responsive evaluation criteria in all TORs, and launch joint GRP projects with WEPs signatories and provincial women’s chambers.

5.0 Direct, Ethical Sourcing

 Direct ethical sourcing refers to a procurement method where goods or services are obtained directly from producers or accredited suppliers (thereby bypassing intermediaries) who meet rigorous ethical, social, and environmental standards (UNDG, 2023). At UN Women (Pakistan), direct, ethical sourcing is strategically used to align sourcing with the agency’s values on anti-exploitation, human rights, and sustainable development (UN Women, 2022).

5.1 Rationale

Direct, ethical sourcing is particularly important in the Pakistani context where informal supply chains and exploitative labour practices (such as child labour and unfair wages) persist in industries including: embroidery, handicrafts, garments, and agriculture (ILO, 2022). The zero-intermediary sourcing approach allows UN Women (Pakistan) to engage transparent, traceable, and gender values-aligned suppliers from marginalised, women-led collectives (UN Women, 2023a).

 

5.2 Spend Category: Rural Artisan Goods and Training Materials

The UN Women (Pakistan) commonly uses direct procurement to source:

  • Customised IEC materials, training kits, and handmade gifts from rural women’s cooperatives
  • Embroidery products, textile gifts, and baskets from micro-enterprises in South Punjab and Northern Sindh.

These are low-value, high-impact procurements that offer ethical and reputational dividends, placing them within the bottleneck quadrant of the Kraljic Matrix (albeit requiring ethical priority).

 

5.3 Strategic Fit

Direct ethical sourcing strongly supports UN Women’s mandate and SDGs, particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Below is a table evaluating direct sourcing under four other principles and models:

 

Analytical Lens Insight
Porter’s Value Chain ●     Strengthens backward linkage to ethical production zones
TBL Framework ●     Social: Fair wages

●     Environmental: Low-emission logistics

●     Economic: Local income generation

UN Supplier Code of Conduct ●     Ensures compliance with ethical sourcing practices, including zero tolerance for child labour or gender-based discrimination
CIPS Ethical Procurement Wheel ●     Allows higher control across dimensions such as governance, labour, and environment

Fig. 12: Strategic assessment of direct, ethical sourcing at UN Women (Pakistan).

 

5.4 Risk Management and Control Mechanisms

While direct ethical sourcing enhances procurement transparency, it presents logistical and governance challenges such as:

  • Limited economies of scale, thereby increasing unit cost
  • Cash-flow fragility of micro-suppliers require pre-payment for goods or flexible terms of settlement
  • Monitoring and verification burdens, especially in Pakistani remote districts

To mitigate these, UN Women (Pakistan) uses pre-engagement audits and periodic spot checks, ethical supplier registration with simplified compliance forms, and partnerships with CSOs for record-keeping and ethical standards training.

5.5 Analysis

Sourcing directly from ethical producers compliant with UN standards of fairness, gender equity, and decent work allows UN Women (Pakistan) to model integrity-driven procurement and de-risks reputational exposure from third-party misconduct. Compared to e-sourcing and GRP, direct ethical sourcing requires a deeper investment in time and relational capital. However, the impact is profound and similar to WEPs: the approaches convert every procurement transaction into a tool for justice and dignity, with the 2024 procurement of handcrafted dignity kits from a women’s cooperative in Jamshoro a case in point: besides providing essential supplies, the procurement sustained 28 households and funded local literacy classes.

To further deepen the reach of direct ethical sourcing, UN Women (Pakistan) should consider creating a Verified Ethical Supplier Platform to reduce vetting time, piloting blockchain traceability for artisan supply chains, and collaborating with ILO and UNDP on training modules for rural suppliers.

6.0 Supplier Appraisal Checklist

Focus Category: Locally-produced Services (Catering, Security, Gardening, Housekeeping)
Sourcing Approach: Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP)

6.1 Strategic Importance of Supplier Appraisal

A structured supplier appraisal process ensures procurement decisions correspond to the UN Women (Pakistan)’s organisational mandate, specifically upholding ethical sourcing standards and advancing gender equality. In the context of locally produced services where suppliers are often informal or underdeveloped, proactive appraisal is necessary to avoid exposure to quality, compliance, or reputational risks (OECD, 2023). Notably, GRP-driven appraisals filters out vendors without a proven commitment to equity or sustainability and promotes inclusive economic participation.

 

6.2 Appraisal Criteria and Dimensions

Based on the UN procurement principles and Sustainable Procurement Frameworks (SPFs) of the UNGM (2023) report, the following six dimensions formed the foundation of this proposed supplier appraisal checklist:

 

Dimension Key Indicators
Legal and Regulatory Compliance ●     Business registration

●     Tax compliance

●     Adherence to local labour laws

Ethical Standards ●     Commitment to UN Women Supplier Code of Conduct

●     Zero-tolerance for discrimination and forced labour

Gender Equality Performance ●     Women-owned/led status

●     Gender balance in workforce

●     Explicit policies on gender-based violence

Sustainability Practices ●     Waste reduction

●     Energy usage

●     Ethical sourcing of inputs

●     Local hiring

Service Quality & Capacity ●     Past performance

●     Ability to meet SLAs

●     Qualifications

●     Technology used

Financial Viability & Risk ●     Years of operation

●     Financial health

●     Risk of disruption

●     Insurance coverage

Fig. 13: Foundational dimensions for the proposed UN Women (Pakistan) supplier appraisal checklist.

See Also: Fig. 14 – proposed checklist with weighting; Appendix 5 for gap analysis between current and proposed appraisal standards).

 

6.3 Proposed Supplier Appraisal Checklist (Weighted)

 

Appraisal Area Sub-Criteria Weight (%)
Legal Compliance ●     Registration

●     Tax

●     Licences

●     Labour compliance

10%
Ethical Practices ●     Conformity to UN Code

●     No history of corruption or discrimination

15%
Gender Equality ●     Women-owned/led

●     Gender-sensitive workplace policies

25%
Sustainability ●     Environmental management

●     Local economic contribution

15%
Service Quality ●     Track record

●     Certifications

●     Capacity

●     Reliability

20%
Financial Soundness ●     Cash flow

●     Solvency

●     Continuity planning

15%
TOTAL 100%

Fig. 14: Proposed weighted supplier appraisal checklist for UN Women (Pakistan).

 

6.3.1 Weighting Rationale

The highest weight (25%) is assigned to gender equality in resonance with the UN Women’s GRP agenda and WEPs (UN Women, 2023). Service quality remains pivotal to service delivery integrity at 20%, while ethical and sustainability indicators share balanced emphasis due to the increasing scrutiny of UN supplier conduct (ILO, 2022). Though an essential consideration, legal compliance carries less weight (10%) due to the deliberate focus on informal community suppliers who, rather than disqualification, may require capacity-building support.

 

6.4 Alignment with UN and Public Sector Standards

The proposed supplier appraisal checklist aligns with the UN Secretariat Procurement Manual (UNPD, 2022), the WEPs self-assessment toolkit, and Pakistan’s Public Procurement Rules (PPRA, 2024). Furthermore, it showcases the TCO approach by recognising the 5 Rights of Procurement  (insisting on the right quality, source, and conditions) and non-price value. Additionally, the proposed checklist embodies the supplier diversity principle as promoted by the UN’s “Leave No One Behind” pledge; ensuring micro and women-owned enterprises in Pakistan are competitively appraised but not excluded.

 

6.5 Implementation and Strategic Impact

Operationalising the proposed supplier appraisal checklist requires deliberate orientation of supplier sensitisation, procurement staff, and digital tracking through UN Women’s e-procurement portal. Once institutionalised, the checklist will improve supplier selection transparency / consistency, strengthen audit-readiness (accountability), expand participation of ethical women-led suppliers, and significantly reduce procurement risks while increasing value-for-money. Notably, capacity-building workshops can support marginal suppliers to meet threshold scores in line with the UNSDG 5 and 17 obligations.

7.0 Conclusion

The study critically examines four sourcing approaches currently deployed by UN Women (Pakistan): E-Sourcing, WEPs-Based Partnerships, Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP), and Direct Ethical Sourcing. Each approach reflects the organisation’s mandate to advance social value through its procurement functions, deliver tangible gender equality, and to uphold ethical integrity.

Applying models like the Kraljic Matrix, Porter’s Value Chain, CIPS Ethical Procurement Wheel, and the UN Supplier Code of Conduct, the analysis revealed that sourcing at UN Women is a lever for structural change and not transactional. In fact, the approaches discussed prove a proactive organisational design that goes beyond price efficiency to entrench inclusivity, transparency, and gender justice into procurement lifecycles (Ramirez & Lee, 2023). Each sourcing strategy serves a unique purpose: E-Sourcing enhances compliance, efficiency, and global accessibility; WEPs-Based Partnerships foster sustainable alliances that multiply impact; GRP directly addresses systemic inequities in public procurement; and Direct, Ethical Sourcing offers value-led engagement with grassroots suppliers. Together, these strategies make a holistic procurement philosophy that ensures that what UN Women (Pakistan) buys, how it buys, and from whom it buys conform with normative goals and global sourcing commitments.

 

8.0 Recommendations

Based on analytical consideration of the modern procurement scene, the initiative makes the following strategic recommendations: firstly, UN Women (Pakistan) should institutionalise an integrated sourcing policy manual. Developing a consolidated sourcing policy that formally defines the four (and other) approaches, outlines when each can best be applied, and standardises procedure across programmes or operations teams will reduce procurement inconsistency and strengthen UN Women (Pakistan)’s strategic alignment.

Secondly, the organisation should build supplier capacity in underserved regions because whereas inclusive procurement is a priority, many potential suppliers in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lack readiness. UN Women (Pakistan) should, therefore, partner with ILO, SMEDA, and local chambers to deliver capacity-building programmes focused on WEPs adoption, e-tendering literacy, and audit-readiness.

Additionally, UN Women (Pakistan) should implement dashboard-driven analytics that capture WEPs-aligned spend, sourcing trends, compliance ratios, and GRP achievements to allow for evidence-based decision-making and easier reporting to UN HQ or donors.

Currently, GRP is primarily applied in small-scale procurements. To amplify its impact, UN Women should upscale GRP in large, high-value, multi-year framework agreements – especially those involving consulting, logistics, and security services. A formal SRM model will also significantly improve supplier engagement, ensure post-contract support, and breed long-term collaboration in WEPs-based partnerships and direct sourcing scenarios.

Lastly, to address traceability and verification challenges in ethical sourcing, UN Women (Pakistan) could pilot blockchain-led transparency mechanisms for assorted rural suppliers. This would compound auditability and demonstrate innovative leadership to other UN agencies.

References

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Suleiman, M. & Chowdhury, R. (2022). Procurement Reform and Gender Equality: A Critical Review. Public Money & Management, 42(5), pp. 380–387. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2022.2041257

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10.0 Bibliography

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CIPS Practitioner Corporate Award Assignment Example

CIPS Practitioner Corporate Award Assignment Example

Are you a CIPS student struggling to complete work-based assignment or practitioner corporate award assignment?  You can hire our CIPS assignment writers for assistance at affordable rate. Alternatively, you can refer to our CIPS practitioner corporate award assignment example to guide you in completing the assignment.

CIPS practitioner corporate award marks the first step to attainment of full membership of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply. The award is equivalent to CIPS level 4 and eligible to public sector employees engaged with procurement at operational level.

The assignment submission involves writing an integrative assignment of 5000words based on your organization. Students are required to use demonstrate working knowledge, research and synthesis of four core modules that include: managing contracts relationship, negotiation and contracting, sourcing essentials in procurement and supply and business needs in procurement.

This assessment tests the learning outcomes and module content of the following Modules:

  • Driving value through procurement and supply
  • Managing expenditures
  • Developing contracts
  • Sourcing essentials
  • Negotiation in procurement and supply

Practitioner Corporate Award Assignment Example

Negotiating and contracting assignment example

Task

Select a category of spend from your organisation. Develop and discuss a plan using the knowledge gained from this programme which could form the basis of a formal commercial negotiation. Your assignment should include an explanation of the key facts, data and approaches that you will use in the negotiation.

Remember, the negotiation does not have to be just about price.  Other considerations could include quality, delivery schedules, timing and amendments/variations etc.

Practitioner corporate award assignment: negotiation and contracting assignment solution example

Executive Summary

Procurement is a process that encompasses selection of vendors, establishing terms of payment, strategic vetting contract negotiation, and actual purchase of products. It deals with acquiring what is essential for the organization; procurement is therefore part of every firm. Concepts of procurement have been applied in supply and procurement negotiations at Sidra Hospital. It is vital to understand the background of the supplier and carry out evaluation of stakeholder as done in this paper. Mendelow’s matrix, PESTLE, SWOT and Porter’s five forces are all important and therefore they should be put into consideration in supply and procurement negotiations because they provide insights during negotiation.

One ultimate procurement goal is to align procurement function with the corporate strategy. The aim of procurement is to successfully enable an organization to purchase products and services. It is therefore paramount to follow correct procedures and incorporate the right stakeholders so as to enable a successful negotiation.

Introduction

In current procurement practice tactical opportunities and opportunism for short-term financial planning are more commonplace than most dare to acknowledge (Hoezen, 2012). Many projects exhibit minimal input to defining their needs and translating these to functional requirements. They rather haste to move on to latter stages of the building process based on a seemingly transparent image of the costs and time line of the project. Inspired by transaction costs economics (Williamson, 1998), procurement processes are still considered as predominantly legalprocesses that are required before starting a project. This is often translated by the actors into a process in which the legal terms prevail over the social process of deciding on the right firm to establish a collaborative relation or the best proposal for constructing infrastructure (Volker, 2010).

Nevertheless, both the legal and social aspects of collaboration are critical for project success. In order to be able to trust each other it is critical for supplying contractors to understand the client’s initial motivation to invest time and money in design, and for clients to understand the contractor (Cuff, 1996). In other words, both parties need to make sense of each other to cross organizational borders (Pemsel&Widén, 2011) because once they start collaborating formal and informal communication mechanisms will develop (de Blois,
Herazo-Cueto, Latunova, &Lizarralde, 2011). Hence it is argued that developing trust, a common language and an understanding of all parties’ requirements should be critical in the procurement phase, to ensure maximum disclosure and allow for the identification of areas of deficiency within the team as a whole (Brown, 2001). Especially in case of integrated contracts in which several phases of the construction process are included in the deal, parties are condemned to collaborate for an extensive period of time. It is thus imperative that partners are able to develop a shared aim of the project before this relationship is made official in a legal document. Front-end project management thus becomes crucial for project success (Morris, 2009).

Purpose of the Research

This research aims at carrying out procurement of IVF Embroyscope product for Sidra Hospital in Qatar. The research aims at meeting the purpose of procurement, that is, to help Sidra Hospital to select a vendor, negotiate contract and purchase IVF Embroyscope product. In addition, this research seeks to investigate some of the factors that affect supply and procurement negotiation and what should be considered before coming up with a procurement strategy. Therefore, this research provides process and procedures that should be followed throughout the process of supply and procurement negotiation.

Sense-making as a Basis for Project Success

According to Ring and van de Ven (1994), organizations focus on bargaining (formal processes) and sense-making (informal processes) during negotiations. By negotiation parties develop joint expectations about their motivations, possible investments and perceived uncertainties. To a certain extent they also get to know and understand each other. By information confinement, by turning tacit knowledge into words and schemas, by sharing knowledge, assumptions and mental models, and by reducing the impact of biases, parties grow and create meaning of the transaction, the context of the transaction, and the value of it to the other party and to oneself. This is confirmed by research of Vlaar, Van den Bosch, and Volberda (2006), who found that whilst parties try to come to a consensus about contract terms, their attention gets focused, they are forced to articulate, deliberate and reflect on their individual ideas, they interact and they reduce biases, judgment errors, incompleteness and inconsistency. Vlaar et al. (2006) also state that the identified mechanisms in the bargaining processes help in making sense of the inter-organizational relationship and of its context. Organizationalsense-making is a social process during which members of an organization interpret their environment in and through interactions with others, thus constructing observations that allow them to comprehend the world and to act collectively (e.g. Isabella, 1990; Weick, 1995).

Organization’s Background and Selected Product Information

Sidra Medicine is a high-tech facility that provides a world-class care; this is a medical facility that helps in building scientific expertise and resources of Qatar. The hospital facility has clearly stated vision and mission statements: Basically, it is not only an advancing healthcare in Qatar but also it is an advancing healthcare in the entire world. The vision of Sidra Medicine is to be a beacon of exceptional care, learning and discovery and to be a top academic medical center around the world. The mission of the hospital is to provide women and children with the best healthcare services in an ultra-modern innovative facility that has been objectively designed to promote healing. The Hospital facility collaborates with leading research institutions and academic partners as well as the health sector of Qatar in training students and staff. The targeted product for procurement is the Time-lapse incubator for IVF equipment. The “five rights” include considering patient situation; collection of cues; information processing; problem identification; establishing of goals; taking actions; outcome evaluation and reflection on process.

Embroyscope is a high-tech device used during incubation period in IVF laboratory between fertilization and implantation period. Through this high-tech device, the infertility specialists are able to monitor the process through which fertilized eggs operate throughout without moving them away from the incubator. With this technology the risk of anything going wring is minimized to a great extent and doctors and patients are very informed on the process of embryo development (Freour et al., 2012). It is a process and technology that can improve the chance of some patients to carry a pregnancy term.

Stakeholder Evaluations

Sidra Hospital is a private hospital and some of its major stakeholders include senior management; managers and staff. Stakeholders must be engaged in any negotiation because this enables them to have an idea of what the negotiation is all about and make contributions on the way to take. The feedback from stakeholders is a valuable source of information that can be employed in improving the design of the project and the outcomes, and help Sidra Hospital to identify and consequently control external risks. Stakeholder engagement ensures that changes are communicated and understood and potential problems are addressed.

Successful negotiations in procurement are founded on a delicate balance to protect information of the stakeholder while gathering sufficient information and intelligence on positions and priorities of vendors. One guiding factor in negotiations is the objective of the stakeholder. The presence of stakeholders improves negotiations with vendors because their objectives give the procurement manager a basis of negotiation; stakeholders simply clarify what is desirable and what is essential and this is the basis of negotiation.

Background of Key Stakeholder

Stakeholder background helps in determine the type of the stakeholder that should be expected in the negation. Customers form a key stakeholder in Sidra Hospital because they influence the decisions made. The management must consider customers before coming up with any decision that involves them because these are the main clients of the hospital. The stakeholder (customer) need better services hence the need of IVF Embroyscope product. The key stakeholder for Sidra Hospital is mainly the people of Qatar most especially those who stay in Doha.

Background of the Supplier

The supplier of IVF Embroyscope product is Vetrolife. Although there is high competition, Vetrolife is the leading manufacturing company and a leading innovator of equipment of high quality such as ART workstations, long –term embryo incubators; time-lapse incubator and many other medical equipment and advanced technologies that meet the ever bulging demand of IVF industry.

Preparation for negotiation with research and contracts

Before engaging in negotiations, the involved parties must understand and prepare so as to meet their targeted goals. A good negotiation plan is bred from a good strategy. Preparation for negation should be thoroughly be done and the preparation process should begin even before meeting the vendor. Some of pre-negotiation steps that should be done before meeting the vendor include gathering the relevant internal data and analyzing it; looking at plans in the future; defining the outcome desired for the negotiations and understanding the objectives of the other party. After preparing thoroughly, the second step is to set and define goals because they form an important element of a successful negotiation. Tactics and strategy are determined by defined goals. The negotiator should then define their BATNA and then understand the way software vendor works. The whole preparation process demands the negotiator to determine when to negotiate, know what to negotiate and put everything down in writing.

Negotiations entail agreements and disagreements and sufficient preparations must be done so as to lead to a constructive negotiation. Negotiations are known to either boost all parties or boost one party and weaken another party. It is therefore important to consider a number of elements before engaging in a negotiation.
Negotiation preparation should start by determining the goals, that is what the negotiation seeks to achieve and the expectations of the other party as well. Preparations should also consider what is going to be traded. In this case the trade product is IVF Embroyscope; and it is imperative to determine what each of the parties is willing to compromise so as to reach a successful negotiation agreement.

Preparations for negotiation also necessitate parties to have alternatives to what they aim to achieve in the event that negotiation agreement fails. The supplier should be careful with this because it matters to the business and can positively or negatively impact the business. Alternatives will ensure the continuity of business without being harmed. Also, a good negotiation will consider existing relationship between the parties involved. In this case the relationship between Vetrolife and Sidra might shape their negotiation process. The main relationship aspect that has impact on the process of negotiation is how long the two parties have been in contact with each other. Relationship will help Sidra Hospital determine whether in the past there were hidden policies that might have adversely impacted further negotiation.

In a nutshell, preparation for negotiation should involve anything that has a capability of shaping the negotiation process. There should be sufficient preparation for negotiation so as to achieve a successful negotiation that meets goals and objectives of the two parties.

SWOT Analysis

Strength

Sidra Medicine Hospital draws its strengths from its state-of-the-art technology. The hospital has activated the interventional MRI Surgery Suite which has created a step change in the role played by Interventional Radiology in successful patient outcomes. The hospital has also launched paediatric surgery programs and it has as well signed an agreement with Assistive Technology Center so as to better its healthcare services (Chehab, Selim&Itani, 2018).This is a digital facility that has incorporated applications of most advanced technology.

Another strength of Sidra Medicine Hospital is its special expertise in various aspects of healthcare needs. There are various experts in different departments who have basically majored in particular areas of healthcare. For instance, the hospital has practitioners who specifically handle women and children’s healthcare needs.
Sidra Medicine is basically a new innovative service. This is not only a medical center but also a research Center, meaning that it is a groundbreaking hospital and an institution of research and education. This means that the hospital institution helps in building scientific expertise in Qatar and in the entire world.

The hospital has goodwill from leaders and the general public. It is an upcoming brand that is growing very first. It has a positive reputation especially on how its extraordinary nurses handle patients’ health care needs. The hospital is located in Doha, this is a superior location that gives it geographic advantage.

Weakness & opportunities

As much as the hospital has strengths that place it on a competitive side, it has its weaknesses as well. In this regard, the hospital needs improvement in these areas. Firstly, it lacks a clear marketing plan. Secondly, the hospital has been newly established and therefore it has gaps in its capabilities more especially in its service areas. Thirdly, management problem has been cited by some of its employees as one fact that derails services offered at the hospital facility. To some extent, there are undifferentiated service lanes (de Jong & Benton, 2019).
Sidra Medicine Hospital has a number of opportunities from which it can draw advantages.

Some of these opportunities include the availability of new technology; changes in population profile; new niche markets; there is no dominant competition; and political good will.

Threats

Threats for Sidra Medicine Hospital include competition from other healthcare providers who have built brand and established themselves over years. These competitors have superior access to distribution channels (Chehab, Selim & Itani, 2018). There are also economic shifts as well as change of contracts for major area employers.

PESTLE Analysis

A business is an entity that is vulnerable because due to the impacts from external forces. External forces such as technological, political, legal, socio-cultural among other forces have procurement ramifications from negotiation for the price to trade and management of the supplier.

The economic environment majorly affects how procurement operations are carried out by the buyers. Fluctuation of currency is the main challenge in the financial environment and so the buyer (Sirda Hospital) has to buy the product at the right time so that return on investment can be huge. Investing at the wrong time is tantamount to losing money.

Political change or policy change has an influence on who buys IVF Embroyscope product. Changes in policy and government at a domestic level can see reforms in regulation and changes in business support packages. This impacts how Vetrolife structure its supply chain for IVF Embroyscope product. In this regard, Vetrolife will base on political events in procurement negotiations so as to get rid of risks or minimize risks.

There is a constant change of technological landscape which has made customers to expect faster operation of businesses. Customers are also more connected because of the current and constant change of technological landscape because it offers them latest advancements. It is therefore important for the supplier of IVF Embroyscope product to keep on top of the changes in technological sector and the impacts of technology on their product and services. Technology plays a very important role in procurement because it determines negotiations and the way in which the buyer associates with the supplier. Basically, the buyer will consider the technological aspect of IVF Embroyscope product and this will determine the buyers’ interest on the product. IVF Embroyscope product that has embraced modern technology will actually change how the buyer will make bids for the product.
Customer behavior and expectations are also shaped by cultural and social factors. Vetrolife products like IVF Embroyscope should therefore not ignore external socio cultural factors because it might risk their business.

Furthermore, supply chain is greatly affected by environmental fluctuations. Environmental fluctuations can result to the scarcity or availability of the product on the market. The scarcity or availability of the product shapes negotiations and logically, when the product is readily available its bid will be somehow lower than when it is scarce.

In conclusion, PESTLE analysis helps negotiators to make decisions about the product by evaluating pros and cons of the product. The buyer, Sidra Hospital will look at some of the pros and cons of IVF Embroyscope product and this will give them a basis over which they can build their argument during negotiation.

Porter’s Five Forces

The following is a five forces analysis of IVF Embroyscope.

  • Threat to New entrants who can be competitors is of a medium pressure. Entry barriers to production and supply of IVF Embroyscope products are relatively low. However, there are many other suppliers of similar products. An example of such a supplier is Esco Medical.
  • Threat of substitute products ranges from medium to high. There are many suppliers of IVF Embroyscope product other than Vetrolife. IVF Embroyscope product from Vetrolife is not different from those offered by other suppliers. There are other technologies that can be embraced and used in place of IVF Embroyscope product.
  • Bargaining power of buyers is of IVF Embroyscope product is of high pressure. There is pressure on Sidra Vetrolife from an individual buyer or organization.
  • Bargaining power of suppliers has a low pressure and finally rivalry among the existing suppliers is of high pressure. The main competitor of Vetrolife is Esco Medical and many other suppliers of medical equipment (Chehab, Selim&Itani, 2018).

Power

Power is determined by negotiators. There are three sources of negotiation power, these are a strong BATNA, role power and psychological power. The best source of bargaining power is the BATNA. For this reason Sidra Hospital must cultivate a strong outside alternative so that it can get the needed power of walking out of the nasty or unappealing business deal. For instance, Sidra Hospital has the ability of improving its negotiation power with the supplier of IVF Embroyscope (Vetrolife) product by finding another supplier of IVF Embroyscope product which it just likes as much. Also the supplier of IVF Embroyscope product can hold much power as well by looking for other buyers who can buy their products. But it is clear that the customer is the one who holds more power because he/she has ability of finding similar product from elsewhere.

Apart from BATNA power, power can come from the role played by the negotiators. For instance, Sidra Hospital holds a powerful brand and reputation. When negotiating with the suppliers of IVF Embroyscope product i.e. Vetrolife, Vetrolife may cede to the preferences of Sidra Hospital because of its brand.

Costs

The final price of IVF Embroyscope product is determined by the negotiation between Vetrolife and Sidra Hospital. An effective negotiation requires Sidra Hospital and the suppliers of IVF Embroyscope product must have a reservation cost and target cost. The best possible outcome for either of the parties is the target cost. Vetrolife may be willing to sell IVF Embroyscope product at a certain cost but the Sidra Hospital might prefer to buy it at a slightly lower cost. This shows two different conflicting costs that determine the basis of negotiation for IVF Embroyscope product between its supplier and Sidra Hospital.

Price

The price of IVF Embroyscope product, just like costs involved will determine whether the deal will be successful or not. The final price of the product will either win Sidra Hospital to go for a deal or will derail it. In this case, both Sidra Hospital and Vetrolife who is the supplier are seeking advantage. Therefore their negotiation can base on a win-win situation and both parties must accommodate each other. Vetrolife may offer a perk like a no cost extended warranty so as to increase value of IVF Embroyscope product for Sidra Hospital. Thus, Sidra Hospital may accept higher price for IVF Embroyscope product. The final price can move to the target of the seller or the buyer through negotiation and this entirely depends on the flexibility of both Sidra Hospital and Vetrolife on the final price of IVF Embroyscope product.

Culture

Sidra hospital has a segmented culture. By profession, there are medicine services, nursing services, and other services. There is also intra-professionalism within each and every discipline, for instance there is surgery, nursing-ICU and attending patients. The executive level has also been divided into Director of Medical Services, Nursing Director, Director of Surgical Services and so forth.

Corruption perception index

Generally as per 2018, Qatar scored 62/100 points on the corruption perception index according to Transparency International. The average of Corruption index in Qatar has been 64.56 since the year 2003 to 2018. The lowest ever scored corruption index by Qatar is 52 points in 2004 and the highest was 77 points (Chehab, Selim, &Itani, 2018). However, there is no corruption perception index that has been done for Sidra Hospital.

Market Structure

Oligopoly

Oligopoly refers to a market structure with a small number of firms, usually two or more, in this case, oligopoly refers to a small number of suppliers of IVF Embroyscope products. There are many suppliers of IVF Embroyscope product in many countries but such suppliers may not readily be existing in Qatar. In this regard it is evident that IVF Embroyscope product suppliers are operating in an oligopolic market. Oligopoly market structure has recognizable impact on negotiation of IVF Embroyscope product. For instance, the supplier of this product may be ready to lose a buyer like Sidra Hospital because the buyer may easily seek the product elsewhere. Therefore, the supplier may willingly accommodate the price for the product as bid by the buyer.

Monopoly

Monopoly refers to a market structure with one firm. In this case, monopoly refers to a single supplier of IVF Embroyscope product. Monopolistic power has a great influence on negotiation because the supplier has a total influence on the price of the product. A monopolistic market means that the buyer, Sidra Hospital has nowhere else to purchase IVF Embroyscope product and therefore the bargaining power of Sidra Hospital can be so low in a monopolistic market.

Duopoly

Duopoly refers to a market structure with two firms. This is a non-existent market structure for IVF Embroyscope product because there are more than two suppliers of this product. Duopolistic market structure, just like monopolistic and oligopolistic market structures, it has impacts on negotiation. A duopolistic market structure can easily be manipulated such that the prices offered by one supplier are similar to the prices offered by another supplier for the same IVF Embroyscope product. In this regard, Sidra Hospital has a little negotiation power more so when the two suppliers have influence over each other regarding the prices of IVF Embroyscope product.

Financial checks

Financial checks asses the responsibility of an organization by looking at how the organization manages money in its day to day operations. Financial checks also form an important aspect of negotiation because it helps to inform whether the buyer of the product has the ability of purchasing the product. For instance, the negotiation for IVF Embroyscope product is also determined by its financial checks, that is how it spends its money on a daily basis. So the negotiation of Sidra Hospital will in a way rely on its financial checks so as not to exceed a certain price for IVF Embroyscope product.

Benchmarking

Sidra Medicine Hospital has adopted both internal and external benchmarking (Afridi, 2018). External benchmarking results to the exchange of best practices within the hospital facility and it helps in examining the performance over time; by examining performance over time it ensures that the hospital performance does not slip. Sidra Hospital also uses external benchmarking partially so as to lead to further process efficiencies and greater satisfaction of patients.

Main Approaches

Supplier spectrum

The supplier is Vetrolife; Vetrolife is a leading manufacturing company and a leading innovator of equipment of high quality such as ART workstations, long –term embryo incubators; time-lapse incubator and many other medical equipment and advanced technologies that meet the ever bulging demand of IVF industry. There are however many suppliers of IVF Embroyscope product in many countries from which Sidra Hospital can source. The supplier spectrum for this product is therefore wide and open

Negotiation contrium

A model for consortium budgeting used by Sidra Hospital is sharing the burden. Sidra Hospital is operating in a climate where there are recurrent budgetary constraints in health libraries. Therefore, it is somehow difficult to maintain services adequately to clinicians who should access quality information (Chehab, Selim, &Itani, 2018).To handle this scenario, Sidra Hospital came up with consortia of purchasing a wide range of resources of information ranging from books to software for online catalogue.

Negotiation Key elements

Agenda

Negotiation agenda refers to list of goals that have been agreed upon to be achieved; these goals are then discussed following some order in a meeting. San agenda can either be formal or informal and it can as well be subtle in negotiations (Kuzmin&Khilukha, 2016). The negotiation meeting can be controlled by the negotiation agenda.

Objectives and targets

Before entering into negotiation the staff should enter negotiation with objectives that are defined clearly. There is a high possibility of conceding on price service or quality when the negotiation staff lacks clear set objectives. The person or staff negotiating should enter negotiation discussion with the vendor with clear and precise company objectives. There should be some flexibility in objectives, they should not be absolute (Kuzmin & Khilukha, 2016). Finally, the negotiators should not deviate from the subject matter and negotiate on irrelevant areas.

BATNA

This simply refers to best alternative to a negotiated agreement (Kuzmin & Khilukha, 2016). This is usually a recommended thing to do whenever the other negotiating party refuses to negotiate. This simply refers to the best thing I can do without the other negotiating party as a negotiator. BATNA is the source of negotiation power. If there are other products that the buyer like Sidra Hospital can go for, then Sidra will have much negotiation power for the product as compared to the suppler of the product.

MIL

MIL means must haves, intended to have, like to have. This categorizes all points that are not agreed upon and then make a decision on the importance. In this case, Sidra Hospital must have IVF Embroyscope product and it has the intention of having the product and so it would like to have this product. The urge of having IVF Embroyscope product might therefore mean that Sidra Hospital must purchase the product no matter the route with which negotiations might take.

ZOPA

This simply means zone of possible agreement or just a range of bargaining (Kuzmin & Khilukha, 2016). ZOPA exists if the agreement has a potentiality of benefiting both negotiating parties is high as compared to benefits that will be realized from the alternative options. A successful negotiation outcome requires ZOPA critically. In a nutshell, ZOPA ensures that all the negotiating parties are satisfied with negotiations. ZOPA determines the final price of the IVF Embroyscope product and therefore establishes the negotiation process. For example, the supplier may be willing to sell IVF Embroyscope at $500, 000 and Sidra Hospital might be ready to buy IVF Embroyscope at $450, 000. Therefore ZOPA falls between these two prices between the seller and the buyer.

Bargaining Mix variables

Bargaining mix refers to a number of issues over which negotiations should be done. Every independent item in the bargaining mix has its own starting point, point of target and point of resistance. The reservation point or resistance point is the point in which the negotiator is not willing to settle (Kuzmin&Khilukha, 2016). Variables of the bargaining mix are volume; price, delivery; terms of payment; specification; and the contract period.

Process of negotiation

Opening statement

The opening statement is basically introduction; the negotiator introduces him/her. It is advised that at this time a tone that can set mood for proceeding with negotiation should be used. Parties involved in the negotiation process can be stressful and tense, in this regard, it is important to create a clear, relaxed positive atmosphere that encourages cooperation (Kuzmin&Khilukha, 2016). The opening statement should inform all the parties about the expected respect that will enable them sail through a successful negotiation.

Testing

This simply means the process of trying if different alternatives for negotiation can work. The negotiator puts alternative options on test so as to determine their capability of functioning (Askfors & Fornstedt, 2018). This is one step that determines whether the negotiation process will be successful or not.

Bargaining

This is a stage where the two teams can now sit together and speak out about their objectives and what they need to achieve (Askfors&Fornstedt, 2018). During this phase, the parties under negotiation support their positions after stating them. Also in this phase, substantiation; assertiveness; persuasion; logic and reasoning are all put together and applied in bargaining. Therefore, in bargaining stage all the parties make their deliberations that enable them reach under negotiation and agreement in an amicable way.

Agreement

This is the final stage that marks the end of negotiation process. It is in this stage where the final terms are documented the way both parties agree after which both parties sign. There are still some loose ends that must be tightened up even after intense deliberations and hard bargaining (Kuzmin&Khilukha, 2016). In this regard, there are some further deliberations that should be made so that all the parties can be in agreement with the final documented draft.

Conclusions

Supply and procurement negotiations are determined by a number of factors and forces between the seller, the product and the buyer. The paper has presented and discussed supply and procurement negotiations at Sidra Hospital and what should be basically done so as to achieve a successful negotiation between the two parties. From the discussion, the paper has provided the background of supply and procurement negotiation starting from preparation for negotiation right to reaching to negotiation agreement. PESTLE, SWOT Analysis and Porter’s five forces are all important considerations in procurement negotiation process because they determine the price of the product and whether the buyer will be willing to purchase the product. In summary, the process of procurement requires a thorough analysis of underlying factors so as to successfully achieve the set goals and targets.

Recommendations

A recommendation is made for Sidra Hospital to consider establishing a procurement department that can carry an effective analysis of all underlying procurement factors before finally arriving to the deal.
Also during negotiation process all parties should consider each others goals and objectives. A negotiated deal should be arrived at without hurting another party; it should be a win-win deal such that all the parties feel satisfied ultimately.

Bibliography

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