Glossary

Standards to support public oversight of expenditures and compliance with public procedures, ethical perceptions, and information policies.

Legislations that are passed by a legislative body.

The authority of an agent that derives from either express or implied agreement.

Rules created and applied by those having governmental powers.

The relationship that exists when one person or party (the principal) engages another (the agent) to act for them.

A person who is authorized to act in place of another.

Authority that a third party reasonably believes an agent has based on the third party’s dealings with the principal.

A system co-developed with Solita, a Finnish software company to leverage Large Language Models (LLMs) and sophisticated data analytics to enhance the assessment of procurement call bids and funding opportunities.

An object, or entity that has potential or actual value to a company.

A coordinated activity by an organization to realize value from assets.

A strategic plan for the management of an organization’s assets that will be utilized to fulfil the organization’s or corporation’s objectives.

The right or permission to act legally on another’s behalf. In general, authority can be either actual or apparent.

Using the results of quality planning on other projects to set goals for your own.

A statistical rule commonly used in forensic accounting, election monitoring, and the study of economic crime, including collusion and corruption.

To ensure that the contract will be awarded to the bribe-paying firm (whose prices are now inflated to cover the cost of the bribe), government officials manipulate the bidding process to exclude other (presumably cheaper) competitors.

Security required from suppliers by the procuring entity to secure the fulfillment of obligations. Examples include bank guarantees etc.

A document provided by a procuring entity to bidders and indicating the form in which they are to submit their bids

Extremely large sets of data or fast growing amounts of data from different sources that present industrial organizations with a variety of analysis opportunities.

The submission of a dispute to a neutral party who hears the case and makes a decision. Arbitration takes the place of a trial before a judge or jury.

A digital bridge allowing parties to securely track goods, automate tasks, and potentially reduce fraud.

Early legal textbooks that can be easily referenced as an authority in a court of law.

A person who receives a commission to enter into contracts with third parties on behalf of a principal.

A person who has general power involving the exercise of judgment and discretion, such as a manager or officer.

The area of applied ethics that focuses on real-world situations and the context and the environment in which transactions occur.

The transfer of capital between countries, either by companies or individuals.

Rules that make agreements binding and, therefore, facilitate planning and the enforcement of expectations.

A legal claim that can be brought before a court of law to seek a remedy for a wrong or injury that has been suffered.

A set of procedures that lets you make changes in an organized way.

A group of people who consider changes for approval.

Also called change control request (CCR), is a document containing a call for an adjustment by either party on changes or revisions to the scope of work.

The system of law that deals with private relations within a community. It is most prevalent in Europe and is also the legal system used in Quebec.

A set of guidelines and principles that outline the expected behaviour and ethical standards within an organization.

An arrangement between two or more parties designed to achieve an improper purpose, including influencing improperly the actions of another party.

The body or collection of judge-made law as recorded in judgments.

A common procurement practice that involves inviting multiple vendors to bid for the same material, product, or service per the business's requirements.

The process of tracking and managing every aspect of a contract for its performance, compliance, and other success factors through every stage of the document's lifecycle.

A business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.

An act that involves promising, proposing or giving any undue advantage to a person performing a public function for themselves or any other person, in return for acting or omitting to act in a certain way.

What you get when you add up the cost of all the prevention and inspection activities you are going to do on your project.

A purchasing procedure commonly used in many industries, including large food chains.

A contract where an organization agrees to pay the contractor for the cost of performing the service or providing the goods most often used when the scope of work or the costs for performing the work are not well known.

Action taken by the importing country, usually in the form of increased duties to offset subsidies given to producers or exporters in the exporting country.

The Court of Appeal hears both civil and criminal appeals from decisions of Ontario's two trial courts, the Superior Court of Justice (including the Divisional Court) and the Ontario Court of Justice. Appeal is the process of arguing to a higher court that a court decision is wrong.

Adding resources or moving them around to align the project with the schedule.

A project management technique for planning, scheduling, and managing the tasks necessary to complete a project from start to finish

A government official demands a bribe or kickback from a firm or individual, or a firm or individual offers a bribe, in exchange for a contract award. In most cases, the corrupt official will permit the bribe payer to inflate the price to cover the bribe and preserve its profits.

Principal whose identity is revealed by the agent to a third party.

A procedural duty that guarantees a process and not a particular result.

Two individuals interacting with one another to resolve a dispute.

Systems that allow for purchasing and selling supplies, equipment, works, and services through a web interface or other networked system instead of paper-based processes.

An arrangement among nations to reduce or eliminate trade barriers and coordinate monetary and fiscal policies.

A claim against a good by someone other than the person representing or claiming ownership.

When each individual or group of people is given resources or opportunities that take into account the imbalance in social systems.

The code of moral principles and values that governs the behaviours of a person or group with respect to what is right or wrong.

An uncertainty about the value of a variable before a process has taken place, the estimate of this variable is called 'ex-ante'.

The stage in the procurement plan where the execution of the procurement procedure is initiated.

Authority given by an express agreement, either verbally or in writing.

A person who receives and sells goods or property for a commission.

Implies that procurement remains impartial, free from discrimination, and complies with laws and policies.

Two activities planned to occur in sequence, but completed simultaneously.

The court that deals with some types of litigation involving the federal government.

A relationship in which one person is under a duty to act for the benefit of another on matters within the scope of the relationship.

Suppliers that directly provide goods or services to government entities, ensuring compliance and quality.

A legal agreement between the organization/project and an entity (person or company) to provide goods or services to the organization/project at an agreed-on price.

The time involved during an activity that can be postponed without delaying the overall project.

A person who receives and ships goods for a principal.

Document showing how things should work in order to gain the best competitive advantage.

People who have the authority to transact all the principal’s business of a particular kind or in a particular place.

Legal and unencumbered claim to a property.

Tangible items purchased to support organizational operations.

An intangible long-term asset that generates value for a company over a number of years

A final and binding process to resolve disputes about the interpretation of an agreement during the life of that agreement.

Involves more than two individuals or parties to resolve a dispute.

The official record of debates in Canada.

The phase that involves putting the project plan into action.

Authority granted to the agent as a result of the principal’s conduct.

To compensate a person for damages or losses they have incurred or will incur related to a specified accident, incident, or event.

Interest arbitration is a type of arbitration that is used to resolve collective bargaining disputes.

Used to connect various devices through a network in order to sense and collect data around the world on the Internet to process various intelligent applications with the aid of embedded systems, artificial intelligence (AI), various software and sensors.

The inventory turnover is a measure of the number of times inventory is sold or used in a time period.

The process of collaborating with other departments or organizations to combine purchasing activities.

The phases involved in the management of an asset. These vary across industries.

An analysis technique used to decide whether to make the product in-house or outsource it.

This category includes political entities where two or more systems apply cumulatively or interactively, but also entities where there is a juxtaposition of systems as a result of more or less clearly defined fields of application.

A clause that requires a country that provides trade concessions to one county to grant similar favourable trading terms to other countries that it trades with.

That which is commonly employed in simple conflicts where both parties only need guidance.

A legal, written paper that warns you that if you do not take a certain action by a certain time, the person or agency who wrote the letter will take action against you legally.

Concentrate on achieving certain end results. The goal of any negotiation is influenced by numerous factors.

The process or a situation when the company employs a third-party provider or organization to do some work instead of using its staff or resources.

A principal whose existence, but not actual identity, is revealed by the agent to a third party.

A multi-national legal or trade agreement between countries.

A court decision that is considered an authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts or similar legal issues.

The difference between the face value or par value of a security and its market price when the latter is greater compared to the discount.

A person who authorizes another to act as an agent.

Governs the relationship between individuals rather than between people and the state.

A set of rules that govern the enforcement of the rights and obligations established by substantive law. It is the body of law that outlines the procedures for filing a lawsuit, such as filing a complaint and serving notice on the defendant. It also governs the rules for discovery, hearings, and appeals.

The strategic process of sourcing and acquiring goods and services for operations.

The procurement life cycle starts with the need assessment by the procuring entity and ends with the execution of the contract.

One of the elements within a supply chain that primarily focuses on the sourcing and purchasing of goods and services.

An individual who offers financial resources to fund a project.

Governance refers to the formal and informal arrangements that determine how public decisions are made and how public actions are carried out, from the perspective of maintaining a country’s constitutional values in the face of changing problems, actors and environments (OECD, 2005).

Refers to the relationship between the state and the people within it and includes constitutional laws, criminal laws, and administrative laws.

The government’s process of purchasing goods, services, and works from suppliers.

Value for customers is maximized when it is created in response to real demand and a continuous and uninterrupted flow.

That which occurs when a disclosed principal adopts or confirms a contract entered into on his or her behalf by an agent.

Behaviour that gives preferential treatment to suppliers who are also customers of the buying company.

The framework that comprises all public procurement laws and regulations, legal texts of general application, binding judicial decisions and administrative rulings in connection with public procurement.

Goals focused on building, maintaining, or repairing a partnership, connection, or rapport with another party.

The awarded contract price divided by the initial estimation.

Religious law includes ethical and moral codes taught by religious traditions.

A dialogical community-based healing process focusing on an offender’s obligation to repair harms that they have created or actioned.

The probability of adverse or beneficial events, following a known probability distribution. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines risk as the effect of uncertainty on objectives.

Someone who avoid risks, preferring as much security and certainty as reasonably affordable to lower their discomfort level.

A strategy that involves the eradication of hazardous activities that can negatively impact an organization or its holdings. This strategy has a higher probability of success but usually comes at a higher cost.

An entity’s management system designed to (a) identify, understand, and assess potential risks and opportunities (and their interdependence) that may affect the entity, and (b) manage those risks and opportunities to be within its risk appetite, so as to provide proper disclosure and reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of entity objectives.

A framework that aims to strike the proper balance between risk and opportunity, protecting the organization without hindering its growth.

The process of identifying, assessing and controlling financial, legal, strategic and security risks to an organization's capital and earnings.

Someone who will not pay extra to have the risk transferred to someone else, nor will they pay to engage in a risky endeavour.

Measures to reduce the risk associated with a project often through the investment of funds or allocation of risky tasks to highly trained personnel.

Someone who will accept risk to access greater rewards despite limited probability and unfavourable odds.

Partnering with others to share responsibility for risky activities.

Risk reduction method that shifts the risk from the project to another party.

The principle of the Rule of Law ensures everyone, even leaders, must obey the law.

The criteria needed to determine the national source of a product.

A set of rules that regulate transactions involving the sale of goods in Canada.

Self-government agreements outline provisions whereby Indigenous groups can govern their own affairs. These agreements address aspects like the structure of the new government and its relationship with other governments, new funding arrangements and the relationship of laws between jurisdictions.

Intangible tasks procured from external vendors to meet organizational needs and goals.

A pejorative phrase to describe sneaky or cunning behavior that is technically within the rules of the law but borders on being unethical.

Using existing purchasing practices to help shape inclusive, vibrant and healthy communities.

The act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services.

Activities that revolve around identifying and assessing potential suppliers that offer the best value.

People who only have the authority to conduct a particular transaction or to perform a specific act.

A measure of how much the realizations of a random variable are dispersed around its mean.

The probability of something happening based on an individual's own experience or personal judgment.

A body of legal rules that define and govern individual rights and obligations and are enforceable by the courts. It includes laws that establish the rights and obligations of citizens, such as property law, contract law, and family law. Substantive law also includes criminal law, which defines and prescribes punishments for criminal offences.

A set of organizations directly linked by one or more of the upstream and downstream flows of products, services, finances, and information from a source to a customer.

The control of materials, information, and finances as they move from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer.

The final court for appeals in the country.

An agreement where one party pays another party for all material and labour costs on a project.

Employing smart contracting principles and protocols that help to avoid business risks.

To be held accountable for wrong actions (other than under contract.)

The set of customs, practices and beliefs that are accepted as obligatory rules of conduct by a community.

Change of property ownership from the seller to the buyer.

The quality that ensures open, accessible, and timely information about procurement processes.

Independent bodies that provide dispute-resolution services in various areas and are usually established by legislation.

A project management concept that says every project operates within the boundaries of scope, time, and cost.

A principal whose identity is kept secret by the agent.

Identifying areas that add benefit to a business.

The elimination of waste that makes the remaining value-creating steps flow.

The set of actions that must take place to add value for a customer from the initial request through realization of value by the customer.

A visual way to identify steps involved in the supply chain process and their relationship.

A method used to visualize waste in a complete process. VSM maps the flow of process, information, and material.

Policy for protecting individuals who report activities believed to be illegal, dishonest, unethical, or otherwise improper.

The tendency to view a negotiation as purely distributive; what one side wins, the other side loses.