ABSTRACT
The goal of public procurement is to obtain goods and services in a timely fashion to meet the needs of its customers. Recognizing that government resources are limited, it is imperative that public procurements be conducted with efficiency and integrity in a fair and open competitive environment. In order to achieve the multiple goals of their public procurement needs, government entities have issued strict procurement laws and regulations and established sound procurement policies and procedures with which procurement professionals must comply. These policies and procedures vary by entity as well as the commodities to be procured. Public procurement entities and individual procurement professionals are accountable not only to end users and suppliers but also to their entire entity, including elected officials and the public, for the efficient, effective, and fair conduct of the procurement.
