It was striking to see the large number of articles and letters in last week鈥檚 edition (26 June) fretting about, and even anticipating, the demise of partnering and frameworks and the return of dreaded competitive tendering

It might not, in fact, be a bad thing.

We operate in a market-based, capitalist economy. The fundamental force in this economy is price competition. You can suspend competition for a while, but in the long run you can no more buck competition than you can gravity. There is no other proven way to arrive at the best product for the lowest price; there is no other proven way to arrive at long-term, continuous improvement by suppliers.

Frameworks engender flabby commercial practice, lazy procurement and the distorted assignment of responsibility

Ray Crotty

Partnerships, alliances and (particularly) frameworks are anti-competitive, designed to shield preferred players from open competition. In addition to adverse economic consequences, they tend to engender flabby commercial practice, lazy procurement and the distorted assignment of responsibility.

Ray Crotty, C3 Systems

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