ABSTRACT
A study of relevant events from the past can help all of us face the future. There is no reason to repeat the mistakes of a bygone era. Unfortunately, most of us have to learn the hard way, by harsh experience of life itself. The following summary is offered as an easier route: • Contracts are legally binding. • They have an inception and an end. • Just like marriage. • Often what is planned does not materialize. • Either expectations were too high at the outset; or there was insufficient
give and take during the contract. • Partnerships can be sweet or volatile. • Compulsion can just add to the agony. • Competitive tenders give clear evidence of value for money • The best deal is on the table. • Many countries, and international institutions, demand evidence of
competitive tendering, to establish that least cost has/will be achieved. • Human nature intervenes in all contracts. • One hundred years ago, direct employed staff could sometimes carry
out work more cheaply than contractors. • The direct employment of staff became a feature of all local authorities. • Up to 1914, workers knew their station in life. • After the war, greater equality was demanded. • The state of the general national economy greatly affects terms and
condition of employment. • Unemployment is a hard but effective tool of economic management. • Military style management gave way to people management. • In the UK in the 1970s, strikes led to a three-day working week. • Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. • The government of the 1980s ensured that a three-day working week
could not, would not, reoccur. • Compulsory competitive tendering for local authorities also became
standard throughout the 1980s and 1990s. • CCT brought real hopes and fears. • A clarity of objectives and purpose was essential. • For the client, as the purchaser, that means being quite clear about what
is wanted.
