Seller Proposals: Input, Output or Both

Thanks Sergio. But I think you didn’t get my question fully. It is not about the adequacy of listed inputs for conduct procurement. What I am refering to is as the buyer part of the processes of conducting procurement is TO OBTAIN (that means output) sellers proposal.

But you also need to eventually obtain the selected vendors.

Sellers Proposal is thus at one point an output. And then later becomes an input.

Thanks Thomas. I am looking at it purely / solely from the owner (buyers) perspectives.

Say I need to build a wall. I have done the make/buy analysis and decided to outsource. I will need proposals from invited vendors. That’s an output at one point in the conduct procurement. Then later I will have to analyze these proposals to select a vendor. At this time it’s an input. I am wondering why PMBOK didn’t capture this nuance.

Now I understand your point. But I think you are not understanding the whole procurement area dynamic. And not problem, lot of people do not undertand that as stated by the PMI. The key is to clear understand what the procurement plan is and mainly the Plan Procurement Management process. Key in the plan is the list of preaproved sellers (if any), bid documents, procurement SOW and selection criteria. The only thing you have to do when is time to adquire which the project needs is to execute the procurement management plan. Its take place in Conduct Procurement. What you have to do at this time is creating the bid documents, send them to the list or preaproved providers (if any) and wait for the answers. You will find all these in one statement "obtaining seller responces". Then, seller responces is not an output, is an input form the point of view of conduct. Inside conduct is the activity (implicit at least) of creating the procurement documents, publish them in the planned way and get the sellers proposals.

Hi Richard,

as I see it:

the output of a make/buy analysis is not any proposal, it is the decision to buy and further down the road the procurement documents including the RfP. A proposal is always - as the name suggests - proposed by someone, in this case the sellers who are asked to bid. So any proposal can only be a input for the buyer/owner, or they had to propose to themselves.

Thanks Thomas.

Make or buy isn’t really a part of the question though.

What I was trying to arrive at is say you want to outsource something. (Won’t call it a wall and won’t reference make or buy as an activity to arrive at decision to outsource).

The emphasis is sellers proposal. At one point it’s an output of an activity. At another point it’s also an input to another activity.

Specifically
Advertising and bidders conference in the first

And

Proposal analysis in the second.

I am hoping this explanation is clearer now.

Next is wondering if there is any possible reason why PMBOK didn’t capture it as both.

Thanks Sergio.

According to PMBOK the bid documents are an output of plan procurement though. Not conduct procurement.

The sellers response is same as the sellers proposal. And this is what you get AFTER you issuing out your RFP or RFQs

Since it’s coming after at this point based on the general definition of output (the sellers proposal) is also an output although PMBOK doesn’t also capture its dual nature.

I know. What I tried to say is this: the point here is the moment when you distribute the information to the sellers. PMBOK said nothing about that. So, that´s the reason you see "seller proposals" as an input. When "conduct proposals" the sellers have sent the information to you.