eom 
or equipment — gives specifications - indicates what or- 
ganizations may be able to perform. 
2. The request goes through steps of Approval - financial, 
contracting, legal — some other possible contractors are 
added. 
j. Evaluation criteria are established, teams are appointed, 
Request for Proposals /RFP/ are sent to organizations. 
4. Proposals are submitted by ofganizations — Evaluated - 
contract is awarded. 
This formal procedure is intended to promote maximum 
competition and objective evaluation. However, in many ins- : 
tances these sought after priaciples are not secured. Many 
awards cre made on a sole-source /ie., without formal compe- 
tition/ basis. Such 'pre-selection' occurs more frequently 
with less-costly projects, in which fewer formal reviews are 
generally required and the decision making authority stays 
at a lower level of the /governmant/ organization. Further- 
more, in many instances, the initiator of the project exer- 
cises his ‘predisposition’ on account of his official posi- 
tion, technical expertise and experience. 
Such contract awarding process involves ling-term, per- 
son-to-person contacts between the sponsor and the resear- 
cher. They build up common experiences, objectives and con- 
fidences. Generated ideas culminate later into sponsored 
RED projects. 
Extensive source solicitation and such legal procedu- 
ral rituals are often causes of delay. The direct effect in 
financial cost is high. But the more important factor is 
the resulting reallocation of technical people. Oftentimes, 
the best technical personnel are employed in proposal pre- 
paration and evaluation /in both, the government and the in- 
dustry/, while the mediocre are left to do the bulk of the 
research work. On the other hand, broad solicitation some - 
times uncovers merit - someone with a better approach to 
the solution of the problem. Such benefits do not necessa- 
rily justify the burdens always. 
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