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The first day of our class was on September 8th and I was very excited to meet my Professor Sarah Denomy. Unfortunately, our class was online in a Zoom meeting. Everyone joined and the professor introduced herself and about this course. She told me about her career background in public procurement and was very happy about teaching this to us. Then she introduced us to Fanshawe Online page of the course to explain about the things to do this semester. We got to know about the FOL quizzes, SILEx project, public agency presentations, case analysis, and reflection which were about to happen in the following weeks. The professor also highlighted the communication that was in the discussion forum in our FOL. The meeting ended by clarifying what we should do this semester to learn and score better marks. I completed the checklists the professor told us to complete this week.

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This module started by defining the public procurement which is public supply chain management. Professor gave us a definition for public procurement which stated as the acquiring of goods and services for public agencies from external suppliers or contractors. Public agencies, professor stated was Municipal/Federal/Provincial government, healthcare, education, military/ security. She also explained about the sources from which the money is coming such as tax payers’ money.

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In the second week, the class started by focusing on the public agency presentations. Everyone is seated in groups to do research and present before the class. The presentation included topics such as what the agency is, what they do, what they buy, who they buy from (identify some suppliers if possible), and any other statistics about funding or the agency. It held successfully and the professor made sure everyone received reasonable grades for their performances. The class continued by analyzing cooperative purchasing. The types of cooperative purchasing included Piggybacked Purchasing, Pooled Purchasing, Consortium Purchasing, and Formal Cooperative Purchasing. The class ended by learning about the advantages and disadvantages of corporate purchasing.

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The class started by explaining about BPS Directive, the requirements that BPS Agencies must follow when acquiring goods and services using public funds, exemptions, and trade agreements. The Broader Public Sector (BPS) are organization that receives funding from the government but is not part of the government.  I came to know that Canada has 15 trade agreements with over 40 countries around the world. These trade agreements indicate information and reporting, procurement practices, and bad disputes. I completed the module 3 quiz and I got 2.63/3.75 which was a good score.

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In module 4, the professor instructed us to read the “But it was only a $1000 job” case before coming to the class. It was a bit long case and took an hour to analyze the situation. After reaching the class, we learned about risk management. It was like we studied in the previous semester. The main core of risk management is to identify and reduce or prevent any kind of loss that may occur. It is one of my favorite topics to learn because I am very good at problem-identifying and solving mechanisms. A new idea I learned here was about the risk formula which indicated risk as a product of the potential of the harm and the probability of the harm. The professor highlighted the options for risk management which are avoiding, transferring, and managing. 6 components of corporate risk management was also a new area for me to explore. After that the case was identified, explained and the decision was made. The professor also mentioned individual and group cases. In the SILEx project, our team contract was made by us and Nabeel Irfan submitted it by the end of module 4.

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In class, we analyzed a news article about a computer leasing scandal in Toronto, which was investigated by Justice Denise Bellamy for their unexpected escalation of a $40 million computer contract to a $100 million contract. The investigation found the company guilty because of its citing issues such as greed, mismanagement, and dishonesty. The professor also described the common law and its specialties. The Law of Agency was another significant topic we learned this week which stated ” An agent (an employee) is authorized to act on behalf of the principal (the employer) to create a relationship with a third party (like a supplier)”. The law of the Agency then directed the duties of the Principal and agent to perform within the law. The professor also highlighted the contract law and 6 requirements for its legal binding. Studying Bidders’ rights was also an interesting topic for me. I completed the FOL quiz by the end of the module and attained a decent score.

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In module 6, I wasn’t able to attend the class due to a cold and cough. So, I read through the textbook portion and the review slides and learned important topics for the week. The goals and integrity of public procurement, and competitive bidding were significant in this module. Types of competitive bidding documents include RFI, RFEI, RFPQ, RFP, RFQ, and RFT. I submitted the Individual Case Analysis at the due date after a few days of preparation. And professor informed us about the group case analysis which will be occurring next week.

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This week, the professor told us to sit in groups to analyze an executive overview. The professor checked each group by talking and discussing with each member to make sure of the progress. We made a summary regarding each case analysis by identifying, making proper decisions, providing some paths to solve the risk, and recommending the solution. We made it together by considering each member's opinions. The class ended with the submission of a group case analysis by every group.

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This module started with the idea about the things we buy such as goods, services, and construction. I got clarity on Requisitions, a document that the internal customer completes that indicates the need for a purchase. I have done an assignment regarding the requisition in my 2nd semester and now I get to know deeply about this topic. The specifications of goods/services and types of specifications which include brand names, design, performance, etc. There are also several points to consider when reviewing specifications such as budget, costs, users, scope of work, etc.

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In the 9th module, I learned about the evaluation methods used in public procurement which includes supplier selection. Based on a competitive bidding document, suppliers will know what they need to complete the purchase. This means the supplier is decided according to the requirements of the agency. If suppliers misrepresent the information they indicated in the competitive document, they are unqualified suppliers. The professor also told us about the specified evaluation criteria along with the examples to show the specific requirements. I also learned about 3 proposal phases which are the pre-proposal phase, open bid phase, and post-close phase. At the end of module 9, our group did not submit a rough draft of the SILEx project because we were still working on that.

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In this module, I attended the group collaboration which was meant for the preparation of the SILEx presentation and submission of the analysis. Joel, Dayas, Nabeel, and I gathered together to confirm the presentation parts and I took the introductory portion of our presentation. That day was pretty great and we discussed even after the class to finalize the things and made a rough copy of our project. At the end of our class, we decided to have online meetups for further editing.

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Before the class, I read Ethical Scenarios, and some webpages such as Types of Cheating in the Federal Government, Investigating Fraud, and Conflict of Interest as instructed by the professor. In class, we learned about ethical and unethical behavior in public procurement. The code of ethics, which was created to give people an idea of how to act in their job roles. This portion also highlights whether the gifts can be accepted or not by public agencies. Ethical issues in public procurement include scandal, fraud, corruption, misuse, bribery, etc. I was very curious to know about these issues in detail and the professor was explaining every issue with examples. After this module, me and my teammates submitted our final copy of the SILEx project which was the result of our hard work.

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It was a significant week for us because we conducted all of our presentations that day. I woke up early to go to class at 8 AM. We submitted our copy of the presentation slides just before the class. Everyone dressed formally and we saw western university representatives sitting in one corner to evaluate our presentations. I wrote my key points in one paper note to reduce my tension. Our professor was very supportive throughout the presentation. Our group was in the middle of to present. It went well by presenting our ContractPod AI as the software solution for Western University. Everything ended as great and we got our marks suddenly after the class.

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I wasn’t able to attend the class this week but I read through the textbook and reviewed slides. It was about the contract which is an agreement between the parties for legal purposes. There are 4 types of contracts which include Purchase orders, Blanket purchase orders, Service level agreements, and Master service agreements. It also highlights about performance of suppliers and its measuring techniques such as formal and informal evaluation and also about the challenges of suppliers in building relationships in public procurement. A new topic I learnt was supplier debriefs which is a meeting held after the project has been awarded. The professor also stated that debriefs are important for an open, fair, and transparent process.

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We happily finished our Public Sector and SCM course and came to the end of this semester by submitting this last course assignment reflection here. I evaluated all the points from the beginning onwards to recollect memories regarding each module. We were very lucky to have Sarah Denomy as our professor throughout this semester. My overall goal was to summarize public procurement's role and responsibilities within a public sector organization and I think I succeeded in that.