How should a city, state, or county government organize its procurement function? What level of responsibility should sit within a central office versus at the department or agency level? Should authority for certain categories of purchases always be delegated out to departments or agencies? These questions are often top of mind for any government looking to speed up procurement processes, improve collaboration, and make procurement more strategic.
In the first part of this two-part series, we’ll tackle the question of centralization versus decentralization and offer examples of effective approaches used across the country by differently-structured procurement organizations.