Posted on 10-01-2011 at 01:00
Tender Writing
PQQ and Tender Writing for an e-reader
Will future PQQ and tenders be delivered to e-readers?
I received a Kindle for Christmas. It was a pleasant surprise, because although I am an avid reader, I do like the look, feel and smell of a book, and thought that much would be lost by using an electronic device.
There is huge enjoyment to be gained from browsing in a bookshop and spending some time flicking through an assortment of books, soaking up the atmosphere and generally immersing yourself in all things bookish.
It has been reported that book stores sales are declining as many people move to online stores and newspapers will soon be a thing of the past. But what of the book itself? Surely the plethora of recently available e-readers will not kill off the book or other printed media? After using the kindle for a week or so, I think it might.
The portability, the size, the convenience and the cost are all amazingly good. There are downsides, for instance, it is difficult to “flip through” the book and images are pretty poor at the moment. However, this will change as the technology improves and customers demand improved features. I do not believe that e-readers will kill off the printed word in terms of tenders, but rather that whole generations who are used to receiving their information electronically will move away from the printed (on paper) word.
Many PQQ and tenders are already submitted via on line portals. Most of the portals are very similar, with the main differences being;
• Some ask that you download a document, complete it and then upload the completed document
• Others provide character limited text boxes which are completed online
• Some provide character limited text boxes and allow attachments, others do not.
So why does electronic versus hard copy matter? It matters because the whole way we judge, view and value the written word is changing.
Electronic tender portals remove the need for choice of font, layout, design and organisation. They are often “idiot proofed”, so that if you forget to include an attachment to your tender submission, it reminds you.
Overall, I believe it reduces the ability of a firm to differentiate itself in the tender process.
This could be argued as levelling the playing field. Allowing those without the resources of a graphic designer or the cash for a fancy tender document to more ably compete. My personal view is that while it will level the playing field it a little, it will also make tenders more difficult to evaluate, less likely to contain innovation and actually make it easier for companies to hide behind brand and set routines and recipes.
By standardising the process so finely, it will create a bland set of responses and make it more difficult for the evaluator to distinguish the real leaders and innovators that can drive performance improvement. E-portal questions tend to be very prescriptive and usually have lower word limits than paper or electronic tenders.
Couple the increase in e-tendering portals to the general decline in literacy, and a generation that is more familiar to communicating in short messages (text, twitter, chat rooms et al) than the more formal structured sentence/paragraph etc and it is clear that the e-portal is in the ascendency and will eventually completely take over.
The good news is that it will be even more important to be able to supply your tender response in a well written, well structured, organised and clearly understood form.
www.executivecompass.co.uk
I received a Kindle for Christmas. It was a pleasant surprise, because although I am an avid reader, I do like the look, feel and smell of a book, and thought that much would be lost by using an electronic device.
There is huge enjoyment to be gained from browsing in a bookshop and spending some time flicking through an assortment of books, soaking up the atmosphere and generally immersing yourself in all things bookish.
It has been reported that book stores sales are declining as many people move to online stores and newspapers will soon be a thing of the past. But what of the book itself? Surely the plethora of recently available e-readers will not kill off the book or other printed media? After using the kindle for a week or so, I think it might.
The portability, the size, the convenience and the cost are all amazingly good. There are downsides, for instance, it is difficult to “flip through” the book and images are pretty poor at the moment. However, this will change as the technology improves and customers demand improved features. I do not believe that e-readers will kill off the printed word in terms of tenders, but rather that whole generations who are used to receiving their information electronically will move away from the printed (on paper) word.
Many PQQ and tenders are already submitted via on line portals. Most of the portals are very similar, with the main differences being;
• Some ask that you download a document, complete it and then upload the completed document
• Others provide character limited text boxes which are completed online
• Some provide character limited text boxes and allow attachments, others do not.
So why does electronic versus hard copy matter? It matters because the whole way we judge, view and value the written word is changing.
Electronic tender portals remove the need for choice of font, layout, design and organisation. They are often “idiot proofed”, so that if you forget to include an attachment to your tender submission, it reminds you.
Overall, I believe it reduces the ability of a firm to differentiate itself in the tender process.
This could be argued as levelling the playing field. Allowing those without the resources of a graphic designer or the cash for a fancy tender document to more ably compete. My personal view is that while it will level the playing field it a little, it will also make tenders more difficult to evaluate, less likely to contain innovation and actually make it easier for companies to hide behind brand and set routines and recipes.
By standardising the process so finely, it will create a bland set of responses and make it more difficult for the evaluator to distinguish the real leaders and innovators that can drive performance improvement. E-portal questions tend to be very prescriptive and usually have lower word limits than paper or electronic tenders.
Couple the increase in e-tendering portals to the general decline in literacy, and a generation that is more familiar to communicating in short messages (text, twitter, chat rooms et al) than the more formal structured sentence/paragraph etc and it is clear that the e-portal is in the ascendency and will eventually completely take over.
The good news is that it will be even more important to be able to supply your tender response in a well written, well structured, organised and clearly understood form.
www.executivecompass.co.uk
