When completing a tender exercise, in addition to price and quality, which factors may also be considered?

In modern procurement, tender evaluations have evolved beyond a simple price-quality trade-off. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a critical non-financial factor that assesses a supplier's commitment to ethical, social, and environmental practices. This aligns with the 'triple bottom line' concept, which considers people, planet, and profit. Public sector procurement, in particular, often mandates the inclusion of social value criteria (a key component of CSR) in tender evaluations. This ensures that the buying organisation considers the wider societal and environmental impact of its sourcing decisions, selecting suppliers who demonstrate responsible business conduct.

B. TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) is a financial evaluation method that expands upon the initial price to include all life-cycle costs; it is a component of the cost/price assessment, not a separate factor.
C. ITT (Invitation to Tender) is the formal document issued to potential suppliers inviting them to bid; it is a tool within the tendering process, not an evaluation criterion.
D. PQQ (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire) is a document used to screen and shortlist potential suppliers before the tender stage; it is part of the process, not a factor for evaluating the tender submission itself.

1. CIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply) Guidance: The CIPS Body of Knowledge emphasizes the integration of sustainability and ethics into the sourcing process. It states that supplier selection criteria should include environmental, social, and economic factors to ensure responsible sourcing. (Reference: CIPS Body of Knowledge, Part 3: Sourcing and Contract Management, Section 3.3.4 Supplier Appraisal).

2. UK Government Official Documentation: Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/20, "Taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts," mandates that social value be explicitly evaluated in all central government procurement, with a minimum weighting of 10%. This makes CSR-related factors a formal evaluation criterion alongside cost and quality. (Reference: UK Government, Cabinet Office, PPN 06/20, Section 1.3).

3. Academic Publication: Arrowsmith, S. (2010). "Horizontal policies in public procurement: a taxonomy". Journal of Public Procurement, 10(2), 149-186. This paper analyses how public procurement is used to pursue secondary policy objectives, such as environmental protection and social inclusion (core tenets of CSR), treating them as distinct evaluation criteria in tender exercises. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-10-02-2010-B001, pp. 152-155).