Bidding Process Research Articles

Analysis & Optimization to Improve the Tedious Tendering Process in Construction Industry

Abstract: This analysis and optimization study aims to improve the tedious tendering process in the construction industry. The study identifies the major challenges faced by stakeholders in the tendering process, including high administrative costs, lack of transparency, lengthy bidding periods, and inconsistencies in bid evaluation criteria. Various optimization techniques are proposed, including the use of electronic bidding platforms, standardization of bid evaluation criteria, and the implementation of a two-stage bidding process. The study concludes that implementing these optimization techniques can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the tendering process, resulting in lower costs, faster bidding periods, and increased transparency.

The need for maintaining ethical practices in public procurement: An investigation into the audit reports on the account of the government of Sierra Leone (2018 – 2022)

Ethics is crucial for the success of every organization, including those in the public sector. Procurement activities bridge the gap between government funds and the utilization of these funds. This demands the efficient and effective utilization of these funds. On this ground, this study unveiled and established the need for maintaining ethical practices in public procurement. Specifically, the study probed into the Auditor-General's reports on the Accounts of the Government of Sierra Leone from 2018 to 2022. Secondary data were collected from these reports and were statistically analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS v26. Data were presented in the form of tables and graphs. The study found the various procurement irregularities that occurred from 2017 to 2021; the most common procurement irregularities were non-submission of procurement documents, followed by irregularities in the bidding process; each of the procurement irregularities has a probability of occurring again in the mere future. The study also showed a positive significant relationship between the occurrence of procurement irregularities and the number of institutions involved. Hence, the study concluded that the need for maintaining ethical practices in public procurement is called for, giving rise to the number of procurement irregularities across public institutions in Sierra Leone and the probability of future occurrence.

A new hope? FIFA 2.0, FIFA Women’s Football Strategy, and event bidding for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World CupTM

ABSTRACT The FIFA Women’s World CupTM 2023 (FWWC23) bidding process was the first major women’s football tournament awarded following FIFA’s landmark reform package known as FIFA 2.0: The Vision for the Future. This paper interrogates the conjunctural politics of the FWWC23 competitive bid process, exploring the unique ways in which FIFA shapes, influences, and controls event bidding for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Based on an analysis of official documents, bid books, and news media coverage connected to the FWWC23 bid process, this paper presents how varying FIFA-based narratives and tactics shaped the winning Australia and New Zealand bid. Based on our analysis, four key points of discussion emerged in relation to the ways in which FIFA 2.0 shaped, and was shaped by, FWWC23 event bidding: the formation of bid “products”; the governance of the bid “process”; the politics of bid “positioning”; and the advancement of FIFA “priorities”.

The Bidding Process of The Cebu Provincial Government: A Case Study

The government can choose the best and most qualified suppliers or contractors through the bidding process, getting the most value for the money spent by the taxpayers. It encourages government procurement to be effective, efficient, and accountable while ensuring the public receives the most for their money. However, the bidding process, particularly in the government, has gotten negative perceptions from the public. For this reason, this case study wanted to explore the bidding process conducted by the Bids and Awards Committee and their perceived constraints as they reflect on the whole process. Also, adjusting schemes made by the officers to the perceived constraints was discussed. Six (6) key informants were selected by the researchers and interviewed individually. As the study employed Creswell’s method, three themes arose that serve the perceived constraints of the officers: (1) Uninterested Buyers, (2) Unqualified Bidders, and (3) the Availability of Signatory. On top of the themes, all key informants indicated that the Cebu Provincial Government’s bidding process followed RA 9184, known as “The Government Procurement Reform Act.” The researchers drew the conclusion that the Provincial Government should take action to ease these constraints by establishing a transformation program focused on improving the bidding process, notably in vetting the bidders' credentials and required paperwork in advance. As part of the program, the organization should embrace cutting-edge practices like digital project approval as the signatory is preoccupied with other crucial tasks.

Bidding Evaluation and Contractor Selection Using Balance Index Model and Comprehensive Input Efficiency Based on Data Envelopment Analysis

In order to ensure a smooth construction project, it is necessary to select an appropriate contractor. However, traditional bid evaluation methods are highly subjective in determining weights. Data envelopment analysis (DEA), a comprehensive bid evaluation method that considers multiple factors, was introduced to reduce subjectivity and provide a simple yet comprehensive method for evaluating bids. Based on the existing cross-evaluation and balance index models, this research proposed a new DEA ranking model—the comprehensive input efficiency model, as well as its specific application steps. Additionally, a case study on selecting contractors for a water engineering project was presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this model. The results indicated that the comprehensive input efficiency model could achieve the same ranking function as the balance index and was suitable for assessing bidders’ relative efficiency. Moreover, the comprehensive input efficiency model proposed in this research is more simplified. Thus, this research compensates for the drawbacks of the existing comprehensive evaluation models in that the bid evaluation process is cumbersome, thereby extending the research on DEA methods in bid evaluation. Additionally, the model provides tenderers with a more efficient and effective bid evaluation method to select the most appropriate contractor. In the future, research may be conducted to apply DEA to other types of projects, including service projects, real estate, and consulting services.

Viva Mexico! The Cultural Politics Behind the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Bid

Abstract This article is a case study of the vision of Mexican history, identity, and culture that won the 1968 Summer Olympic Games for Mexico City. The Mexican elites’ portrayal of Mexico as a modern, cosmopolitan nation contributing to emerging global institutions and ideals in the postcolonial era ensured the bid's success. The article's core is a close reading of the official bid and bidding process. This analysis is supplemented and sharpened by contrasting it with alternative visions of Mexican nationalism and the competing Buenos Aires bid. Guided by symbolic interactionism and theories of cultural politics, the study highlights the unique status of Mexico and Latin America in the Olympic Movement, reminds us of the role of the International Olympic Committee in constructing global order in the Cold War era, and shows the value of studying alternative and unsuccessful visions of nationalism, modernity, and global cosmopolitanism.

Research on Intelligent Verification Technology of Bid Evaluation Results

Bidding is an important procurement method. By giving full play to the advantages of bidding enterprises and carrying out open and fair competition, it has realized the effective optimization of the market economic environment and significantly improved the benefits of engineering projects. The bidding of power engineering project is to realize the fair and transparent competition among bidding units. In order to improve the standardization and fairness of bid evaluation results and solve the final control problem of power bidding, it is particularly important to do a good job in the intelligent verification of bid evaluation results. This paper mainly studies the intelligent verification technology of bidding and bid evaluation results. By studying the bidding and bid evaluation process and standards, and using information intelligent technology, this project summarizes some standard laws and models for verifying the bid evaluation results, and develops the intelligent verification tool of bid evaluation results.

A comparison of reward processing during Becker-DeGroot-Marschak and Vickrey auctions: An ERP study.

Vickrey auctions (VA) and Becker-DeGroot-Marschak auctions (BDM) are strategically equivalent demand-revealing mechanisms, differentiated only by a human opponent in the VA, and a random-number-generator opponent in the BDM. Game parameters are such that players are incentivized to reveal their private subjective values (SV) and behavior should be identical in both tasks. However, this has been repeatedly shown not to be the case. In this study, the neural correlates of outcome feedback processing during VA and BDM were directly compared using electroencephalography. Twenty-eight healthy participants bid for household products which were then divided into high- and low-SV categories. The VA included a human opponent deception to induce a social environment, while in reality a random-number-generator was used in both tasks. A P3 component peaking at 336 ms over midline parietal sites showed more positive amplitudes for high bid values, and for win outcomes in the VA but not the BDM. Both auctions also elicited a Reward Positivity potential, maximal at 275 ms along the central midline electrodes, that was not modulated by auction task or SV. Further, an exploratory N170 potential in the right occipitotemporal electrodes and a vertex positive potential component were stronger in the VA relative to the BDM. Results point to an enhanced cortical response to bid outcomes during VA task in a potential component associated with emotional control, and to the occurrence of face-sensitive potentials in VA but not in BDM auction. These findings suggest modulation of bid outcome processing by the social-competitive aspect of auction tasks. Directly comparing two prominent auction paradigms affords the opportunity to isolate the impact of social environment on competitive, risky decision-making. Findings suggest that feedback processing as early as 176 ms is facilitated by the presence of a human competitor, and later processing is modulated by social context and subjective value.

Bioengineered tissue and cell therapy products are efficiently cryopreserved with pathogen-inactivated human platelet lysate-based solutions

BackgroundThere remains much interest in improving cryopreservation techniques for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). Recently, human platelet lysate (hPL) has emerged as a promising candidate to replace fetal bovine serum (FBS) as a xeno-free culture supplement for the expansion of human cell therapy products. Whether hPL can also substitute for FBS in cryopreservation procedures remains poorly studied. Here, we evaluated several cryoprotective formulations based on a proprietary hPL for the cryopreservation of bioengineered tissues and cell therapy products.MethodsWe tested different xenogeneic-free, pathogen-inactivated hPL (ihPL)- and non-inactivated-based formulations for cryopreserving bioengineered tissue (cellularized nanostructured fibrin agarose hydrogels (NFAHs)) and common cell therapy products including bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs), human dermal fibroblasts (FBs) and neural stem cells (NSCs). To assess the tissue and cellular properties post-thaw of NFAHs, we analyzed their cell viability, identity and structural and biomechanical properties. Also, we evaluated cell viability, recovery and identity post-thaw in cryopreserved cells. Further properties like immunomodulation, apoptosis and cell proliferation were assessed in certain cell types. Additionally, we examined the stability of the formulated solutions. The formulations are under a bidding process with MD Bioproducts (Zurich, Switzerland) and are proprietary.ResultsAmongst the tissue-specific solutions, Ti5 (low-DMSO and ihPL-based) preserved the viability and the phenotype of embedded cells in NFAHs and preserved the matrix integrity and biomechanical properties similar to those of the standard cryopreservation solution (70% DMEM + 20% FBS + 10% DMSO). All solutions were stable at − 20 °C for at least 3 months. Regarding cell-specific solutions, CeA maintained the viability of all cell types > 80%, preserved the immunomodulatory properties of BM-MSCs and promoted good recovery post-thaw. Besides, both tested solutions were stable at − 20 °C for 18 months. Finally, we established that there is a 3-h window in which thawed NFAHs and FBs maintain optimum viability immersed in the formulated solutions and at least 2 h for BM-MSCs.ConclusionsOur results show that pathogen-inactivated solutions Ti5 allocated for bioengineered tissues and CeA allocated for cells are efficient and safe candidates to cryopreserve ATMPs and offer a xenogeneic-free and low-DMSO alternative to commercially available cryoprotective solutions.

Proliferation mechanism of collusive alienation in tendering for government investment projects

Collusion between governments and enterprises has occurred in many economies around the world in the context of government investment projects and tenders. Not only is collusion an illegal act, but it may also lead to learning and imitation by non-colluding parties. Therefore, to control collusion and ensure the quality of government investment projects, investigating the spread of collusion in the bidding process of such projects is important. This study presents a simulation of the diffusion process of collusion among multiple entities through NetLogo, drawing on a contagious disease model. The effectiveness of the hypothesised control tools is validated through the changing trend of collusion in bidding in China. The findings provide a new approach to controlling collusion based on the perspective of the proliferation of bidding behaviour and have some reference value for the government to formulate policies.

Analysis of Drug Procurement Results in Vietnam from 2013 to 2020

Abstract: Drug procurement bidding has always been under the government’s particular concern to assure drug quality, stabilize drug costs, and enhance the use of domestic drugs. A retrospective study analyzes data from the drug procurement results in Vietnam from 2013 to 2020 based on the results reported to the Drug Administration of Vietnam. The rate of drugs selected through the bidding process in Hanoi and HCMC accounted for the highest proportion in the country with 17.5% and 14.3%, respectively. The number of selected drugs with domestic origins had seen a gradual increase over the years with 4545 drugs during 2020, which was 2.2 times higher than that of 2013 (2079 drugs). Generic drugs in group 3 with domestic origins comprised the highest proportion of both quantity and value compared to drugs in other groups. Antiparasitic drugs and anti-infectives had the highest value rates among pharmacological groups with over 20%. During the research period, the costs of selected drugs tended to witness a decreasing trend, accounting for 60% of drugs. Only 9% of the drugs had their values remain unchanged, and the other 31% saw an increase in these values. State bidding procurement policies are making positive effects in lowering drug costs and encouraging domestic drug use. However, the value rate of domestic drugs is still lower than that of imported ones. It is necessary for domestic pharmaceutical enterprises to invest in developing factories, actively find domestic ingredient sources, and focus on specific medications in great demand.
 Keywords: Drug bidding, drug price, generic bidding package, original brand name bidding package, period of 2013-2020, Vietnam.
 

Design of a Structured Parsing Model for Corporate Bidding Documents Based on Bi-LSTM and Conditional Random Field (CRF)

International projects are often realized through the bidding process, but the existence of information exchange barriers in different countries leads to a complex and tedious bidding process. In this paper, the authors study the complex problem of reading bidding documents, combine the artificial intelligence to analyze them in a structured way, and realize the intelligent analysis of bidding documents. Firstly, through the CRF model, the structured analysis of the tender document is carried out according to the title of the tender document, and the extraction of quoted price, technology and commercial part is realized. Secondly, the detailed analysis of quoted price and technology is completed using the Bi-LSTM method, and the main five key feature extraction and analysis are completed. Finally, based on the CRF-Bi-LSTM method, the actual test is carried out, and the correlation coefficient is as high as 0.965. The results show that the structured parsing model proposed has good application prospects.

A Critique of the Initiative for Public–Private Partnership in Passenger Train Operations

In this paper, we critique the initiative for public private partnership in passenger train operations, started by the Ministry of Railways in July 2020. First, we examine each of the clusters in terms of parameters having implications on market and design coherence. The parameters include category of service (based on running time), train kms per week, train hours per week and average speed. Second, we present the salient features of bid parameters and conditions as per the documents released by the Ministry of Railways. Third, we assess the public private partnership initiative and bid conditions on parameters such as drivers for the initiative, market coherence, design coherence, bidding process and timeline, bid criteria, concession period, issues of competition, financial capacity, entry costs, train set features, fare and ticketing, terminals, schedule and stoppages, haulage and other charges and operations & maintenance. We also draw lessons from our understanding of the public private partnership experience of container train operators, where applicable. Finally, we suggest a way forward for the stakeholders in this public private partnership initiative.

We Did It: A Content Analysis of Australian and New Zealand Online News Media Coverage of the Bid Process for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

The purpose of this study was to examine online news media coverage of the Australia–New Zealand joint bid to host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Following neoliberal feminist theory and a postfeminist framework, the meanings and discourses of women’s empowerment produced in, and disseminated by, Australia and New Zealand’s popular online news media were explored. A content analysis was used to examine 77 domestic online news media articles published in response to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup bid and hosting announcement. The findings revealed that the popular online news media centered on three themes: opportunities for women and girls in sport, legacy outcomes, and commercial benefits. However, there was a clear lack of critical engagement from the news media over the bid’s initiatives, claims, and promises. Only 2.5% of all online news media coverage engaged in meaningful discussion, analysis, and critique of the purported social and economic impacts of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. This study raises critical questions about the role of Australian and New Zealand (sport) media in (a) serving as a prominent forum through which the As One 2023 bid committee could circulate strategically crafted, preferred narratives regarding the event’s legacies and impacts to manufacture consent and public support for event hosting and (b) propagating a postfeminist celebration of women’s sport mega events that uncritically circulates specious claims of women’s empowerment, participation growth, and commercial benefits of the event.

Key success factors for small design offices in the bidding process

ABSTRACT Competition in the design office market is high, therefore it is important to be aware of the conditions determining the competitive advantage, thus increasing the bidding effectiveness. For this reason, the aim of the article is to identify key success factors (KSF) increasing successful bidding of a small design office. The factors were identified and then analysed based on a literature review, expert interviews and using Group Consensus Cluster Analysis (GCCA) – the module of the AHP method clustering a group of decision makers into smaller subgroups with higher consensus. To examine the managerial implications, a KSF analysis was conducted from the perspective of the bidding effectiveness of the selected small design office. The results indicate that ‘technical skills and experience’ is the factor most influencing the potential of a small design office. Nevertheless the entire proposed procedure provides important guidelines on how to use the organisation's strengths for its development and what needs to be improved in its operation. HIGHLIGHTS Detailed analysis of key success factors (KSFs) of the design office operation. KSFs subjected to the AHP method using Group Consensus Cluster Analysis (GCCA). Managerial implications based on KSF analysis from the perspective of the bidding effectiveness of the selected small design office. Combining AHP method with the KSF analysis provides the company with important guidelines regarding strategic efforts.

A Stepwise Replicable Approach to Negotiating Value-driven Supply Chain Contracts for Orthobiologics.

Orthobiologics are increasingly used to augment healing of tissues. Despite growing demand for orthobiologic products, many health systems do not enjoy substantial savings expected with high-volume purchases. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate an institutional program designed to (1) prioritize high-value orthobiologics and (2) incentivize vendor participation in value-driven contractual programs. A three-step approach was used to reduce costs through optimization of orthobiologics supply chain. First, surgeons with orthobiologics expertise were engaged in key supply chain purchasing decisions. Second, eight orthobiologics formulary categories were defined. Capitated pricing expectations were established for each product category. Capitated pricing expectations were established for each product using institutional invoice data and market pricing data. In comparison with similar institutions, products offered by multiple vendors were priced at a lower benchmark (10th percentile of market price) than more rare products priced at the 25th percentile of the market price. Pricing expectations were transparent to vendors. Third, a competitive bidding process required vendors to submit pricing proposals for products. Clinicians and supply chain leaders jointly awarded contracts to vendors that met pricing expectations. Compared with our projected estimate of $423,946 savings using capitated product prices, our actual annual savings was $542,216. Seventy-nine percent of savings came from allograft products. Although the number of total vendors decreased from 14 to 11, each of the nine returning vendors received a larger, three-year institutional contract. Average pricing decreased across seven of the eight formulary categories. This study demonstrates a three-step replicable approach to increase institutional savings for orthobiologic products, engaging clinician experts, and strengthening relationships with select vendors. Vendor consolidation permits a symbiotic win-win relationship: Health systems achieve increased value by reducing unnecessary complexity of multiple contracts, and vendors obtain larger contracts with increased market share. Level IV study.

Strategic Bidding of Retailers in Wholesale Markets: Continuous Intraday Markets and Hybrid Forecast Methods.

The deregulation process of the electricity sector has led to competition in wholesale and retail markets. In particular, retailers submit bids to wholesale markets to satisfy the energy needs associated with portfolios of end-use customers. This paper describes a strategic process for retailers bidding in a wholesale market composed of a day-ahead market, an intraday market, and a balancing market. It considers a market design that involves a hybrid model for the intraday market, based on daily auctions and a continuous procedure. The paper also presents a computational study to illustrate and test both the market design and the strategic bidding process of retailers. The results confirm the advantages of considering a continuous intraday market, show that bidding in short-term markets is more beneficial than bidding in medium-term markets, and indicate important aspects to consider when selecting customers to add to the portfolios of retailers.

Faktor-Faktor Penyebab Kegagalan Penyedia Jasa pada Proses Evaluasi Penawaran Tender Konstruksi

Tender is a series of bidding activity processes that aim to select, obtain, determine, and designate the mostappropriate company to work on a work package. One of them is construction tenders, in which theconstruction industry has a very important role in the economic and social development of a nation. The tenderprocess can be attended by more than one participant, where these companies compete with each other to beable to win a work package. With too many companies, service providers need to have competitive offers inorder to get a positive result in order to win in project tenders. Only the best participant will be the winner inthis competition, so that other participants will be declared failed in the bidding process. This article aims tofind out what factors cause service provider failure in the evaluation process for construction tender bids sothat it becomes a means for self-introspection and finding the best solution that can somewhat minimize thefailure factor. This article uses a literature study method regarding the factors that cause service providerfailure in the process of evaluating construction tender bids by comparing several related journals and basedon current regulations. From the results of the literature study, it was found that there were 45 factors causingthe failure of service providers in the process of evaluating construction bids, which came from 3 previousresearch sources and 2 current regulations.

Two-Stage Community Energy Trading Under End-Edge-Cloud Orchestration

The end-edge-cloud orchestration of the virtual power plant (VPP) enables the edge server to timely serve community users. By deploying the community energy storage system (CESS) and the community peer-to-peer (P2P) market, prosumers can form energy communities to achieve self-sufficiency of energy and independence from fuel-based power generators. This article proposed a two-stage community energy trading model under end-edge-cloud orchestration. The community P2P trading is the first stage where the edge server can execute the automatic bidding process for multiple buyers and sellers based on the real-time users’ energy profiles and the Bayesian-game-based pricing mechanism. The trading between the retailer and energy communities is the second stage where the edge server can dynamically update the optimal operation of the CESS based on the dynamic pricing mechanism. An original centralized optimization problem is decomposed into subproblems for each stakeholder and solved through the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). Considering ADMM needs multiple information exchanges, a general form of the communication-censored ADMM for sharing problems is proposed to decrease the communication cost. Numerical simulations prove that the proposed mechanism can effectively increase transaction efficiency, avoid the new demand peak brought by the utilization of the CESS, and decrease the communication cost.

Development of delay mitigation measures in construction projects: a combined interpretative structural modeling and MICMAC analysis approach

Construction delays are recurrent worldwide, regardless of the type of work, and can result in severe impacts, such as time and cost overruns and conflicts. This work aims to present a methodology to develop mitigation measures for the causes of Delays in Construction Projects (DCPs). Prior works have explored strategies to develop these measures but systematically failed to consider that the interrelationships among causes affect the significance of the impact of each cause. The methodology proposed combines the Interpretative Structural Modelling (ISM) and Matrix Cross Impact Matrix Multiplication (MICMAC) analyses approaches and is grounded on the opinions of construction experts collected during Focus Group Interviews (FGI). First, the critical causes of DCPs are identified. Second, the ISM model is built, representing the interrelationships between the causes and their hierarchy. Third, the MICMAC analysis is performed, revealing the strengths of the relationships among the influencing causes. Fourth, mitigation measures are developed to address the root causes identified in the previous steps, but they are designed to target and mitigate other causes, given their hierarchical relationships, driving power, and levels of dependence. Applying this methodology to the Portuguese context revealed 16 critical causes, which were then hierarchized into six levels of influence. Inadequate bidding and contract award processes and deficient communication between parties were deemed root causes, and 23 measures were put forward to mitigate DCPs. Therefore, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by designing an innovative and practitioner-wise methodology to develop mitigation measures in relation to DCPs and revealing some measures for the Portuguese context.