COMPETITIVE TENDERING POLICIES IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS

This paper compares and contrasts the application of competitive tende ring policies in the public and private sectors. It is based on inform ation derived from a large-scale survey of public and private sector o rganisations in New South Wales. Analysis of the survey responses sugg ests a common approach to the basic elements of the tendering (market- testing) process. However, there are also some important differences, the most striking of which is that public sector organisations adverti se more frequently and generally review more tenders. Despite this, th ere appears to be little difference in the degree of effective competi tion achieved between the two sectors. More generally, while nearly al l organisations surveyed collect information that is relevant to perfo rmance evaluation, it does not appear to be systematic or rigorous eno ugh to secure contract compliance.