CLASS EXERCISES - CPA TEXAS GOVERNMENT BASIC PUBLIC PURCHASING

1. Three parties involved in an agency procurement relationship are:

a. Principal, Agent, Vendor b. Agent, Actual, Retailer c. Contact, Manager, Agent

2. The following are steps in the procurement cycle EXCEPT:

a. Need Defined

b. Contract Administration c. Benefit Duration

d. Payment

3. True or False: A CTPM is required to make delegated purchases of $25,000-

$100,000.

If false, what would make this a true statement?

_____________________________________________________________________

4. As a public purchaser, it is your duty to do which of the following?

a. Serve the best interest of each State organization and taxpayers in the State of Texas.

b. Interpret state policy and law to the best of your ability and make rational decisions accordingly.

c. Avoid acts which are improper or give the appearance of impropriety.

d. All of the above e. A&C

5. True or False: Every state purchaser has access to legal counsel.

If false, what would make this a true statement?

_____________________________________________________________________

6. A _____________ is used in the purchase of services to define exactly what work is being contracted.

a. Approved Products List b. Statement of Work

manner.

b. Agency decided to forgo standard bidding practices to minimize work load on purchasing staff.

c. A new computer virus was unleashed on all office computers over the weekend and new equipment is needed to minimize damages.

d. Department head decides that all outgoing company work will be reproduced on off white paper only, but office only has ample supply of regular white paper.

8. True or False: Surplus property is a procurement method used to procure excess property no longer needed by state or federal agencies.

If false, what would make this a true statement?

_____________________________________________________________________

9. CPA requires that all orders be placed as ____________?

a. Free On Board Origin b. Freight on Board Origin c. Free on Board Destination d. Freight on Board Destination

10. Negotiations are permitted in the competitive bid process:

a. Always

b. When there is only one supplier c. Never

d. When purchase is over $100,000

11. CPA will not delegate purchasing authority over $100,000 on what two types of purchases?

a. Direct Publication and Distributor Purchases b. Emergency and Distributor Purchases c. Emergency and Commodity Purchases d. Commodity and Services Purchases

Dilemma A:

You are one of three people in your department assigned to procurement project, You are friends with one of the bidders. What actions should you/are you

allowed to take?

Dilemma B:

As purchaser for ABC agency, your job involves obtaining goods for the human resources department. You have purchased widgets from several suppliers over the last few months and have come to prefer dealing with the Biz-R-Us company.

Biz-R-Us' price for widgets is 10% higher than other widget vendors. Today, you need to place an order for 30 widgets. You pick up the phone and place an order with Biz-R-Us. (For the purpose of this discussion, widgets always cost less than

$3/widget.) Should you do something else?

Joseph wins the door prize. Should he accept it?

Dilemma D:

Tim is an employee of the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Doris, his neighbor, is a long time school teacher that was recently laid off due to budget cuts. Tim knows Doris is having financial difficulties and has agreed to write a personal letter of recommendation for Doris. Doris asks him if he would please put the letter on TEA letterhead and sign it using his official title of Education Director.

Tim is not sure if this appropriate. He has known Doris on a personal basis for over 10 years, but they have never had a work relationship.

Is it appropriate for Tim to use his official capacity to prepare the recommendation letter? Why or why not? What should Tim do?

Match the Specification Type up with the corresponding definition:

Specification Type Definition

Performance or Functional Includes elements of both performance and design specifications.

Design or Technical Used in the purchase of services to define exactly what work is being contracted.

Combination Provide complete description of what

the product or service must look like.

Brand or Trade Name Describe what the product or service is expected to do.

Qualified or Approved Products List Identify a specific product manufactured by a specific corporation.

Statement of Work Identifies products or services whose acceptability has been tested and determined in advance.

Total

Instructions: Discuss the following sole source purchase justifications and determine if you agree with them. This is just to get your first impressions. We realize that as a purchaser you would need to do further research before making a final decision. What questions might you want to ask the end user?

Scenario #1 – The City Parks Department is requesting the sole source purchase of hiking boots for city park rangers. The boots are manufactured by Boots R Us and are the same boots used by the National Forest Service. The National Forest Service representative says that these boots are the only boots that will hold up to the daily activities of a park ranger. The estimated annual cost of boots is $10,000.