Discussion Question hhs265

HUMAN SERVICE AGENCY : RFPs VERSUS IFBs

Choosing Requests for Proposals as the more effective strategy

When a humans services agency is provided the flexibility to structure the request either as a request for proposals or as an invitation to bid , the contract manager should keep in mind the advantages and disadvantages of each type of procurement strategies , namely requests for proposals (RFPs ) and invitations for bids (IFBs . Between the two the more effective strategy for a human service agency is the former , as it has the following advantage of : having clear expectations

for the project , consistency in the format of proposals from vendors and enhancing the decision making process through comparison of vendors against common criteria . Additionally , with respect to preparation there is less need for a request for proposal for advanced document preparation , whereas invitations for bids need more preparation as the solicitation is essentially a finished contract . In making award , there is more flexibility to consider non-price factors in RIFs than in IFBs (Austin and Hopkins , 2004 . Moreover , more flexibility to customize how the functions will be defined and distributed based on the strengths of the contractor that is chosen is observed of RIFs , as no flexibility in the assignment of responsibilities is seen from IFBs

RFPs serving the Best Interest of the Agency

The said procurement system serves the best interests of human service agencies and those they support , through having the proposal contain highly detailed intentions of how to provide the service and identifying the education , qualifications and experience of staff who will be involved in providing the service , so that there is an assurance that only the best vendor is granted the project , resulting to the general wellbeing of the human service agencies and those they support . And because a request for proposal includes requirements on the organization and financial capabilities of the proponents , all aspects of the procurement process is made transparent , leading to unbiased and highly objective procurement process

WORKS CITED

Austin , M Hopkins , K (2006 . Supervision as Collaboration in the Human Services . Thousand Oaks , California : Sage Publications Ltd

RFPs vs . IFBs PAGE 2...