The thin line between undue influence and relationship building in the public sector (A question for 2023)

EDITOR’S NOTE: While his profile on LinkedIn may suggest that Duncan Jones is (retired) from Forrester Research, the questions he poses and the insight he brings to the industry are as timely and powerful as ever. Tagging me in his post about the Richard Sharp controversy in the UK reminded me of this 2011 video interview and the subsequent 2014 follow-up post regarding the New York State bid practices and a similar “controversy” involving the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Here is my response to Duncan’s question:

Thanks for the tag, Duncan! The short answer is yes! However, the reality is a simple, not easy situation.

Here is the link to an article I wrote in 2014 about my interview with Judy Bradt – “The thin line between undue influence and relationship building in the public sector.” The video was viewed more than 20K times after its release a hot topic then as it is now.

The reason it drew so much attention is because I asked Judy to comment on a discussion, I had with a “former senior aide to New York Governor Cuomo regarding his assertion that the majority of contract winners in the state had been determined before an actual RFP was issued.” Video: https://procureinsights.com/2014/10/07/the-thin-line-between-undue-influence-and-relationship-building-in-the-public-sector-by-jon-hansen/

My question: even though more than a decade has passed since that interview, why does this challenge still exist?

Tagging David Loseby MCIOB Chtr’d FAPM FCMI FCIPS Chtr’d FRSA MIoD MICW Colin Cram FCIPS Jenti Vandertuig Robert Gleason Richard Pennington Kelly Barner Mary Zampino Geoff Talbot Iain Campbell McKenna Sarah Barnes-Humphrey Daniel Barnes ☄️🦖 Philip Ideson Helen Mackenzie Canda Rozier, CIAP, Procurement Evangelist Corinne Pohlmann