Procurement Issues

I just need a essay on the following topic: Procurement is a professional field that deals with the acquisition of supplies and services for a project. The project manager and team will typically specify goods and services that exceed the actual requirement by a slight margin, which increases the cost for the project. There are issues associated with procurement that project managers should be aware of. For example, your assigned procurement specialists will "shop around" for the best bargain, which may have a lower grade but lower price. The reward system says to the project manager that a higher grade product will "ensure project success"; but the reward system tells the procurement specialist to "ensure lowest cost" while meeting minimum requirements. Another example of a procurement issue are projects that require items that are not readily available and where order-delivery time may be longer than the project's duration. These items are typically called "long lead items." Advanced purchases may be required to ensure the materials are available when the project needs them, but in its early stages the project budget might be too small to accommodate an advance purchase.