Implementing Federal Procurement Reform

Abstract:

Steve Kelman, Spring 1998

The effort to reinvent the federal procurement system is widely regarded by outside observers as having undergone significant reform. The paper presents an account of successful innovation in government procurement (the way the federal government buys goods and services from the private sector for government use) initiated and pursued by the White House during the Clinton Administration. Steven Kelman is a Professor of Public Management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. From 1993 to 1997, he was administrator at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. One of the more promising trends in government reform, which we have seen in applications to the Innovations in American Government program, and which is occurring across all levels of government, has to do with new practices in procurement. In his position, Professor Kelman played key roles in federal reforms that have occurred in the past five years.

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Last updated on 04/20/2021