Dictionary of Procurement Terms

Welcome to the NIGP Online Dictionary of Procurement Terms, the comprehensive reference for public purchasing terms and concepts.

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  • Testing

    That element of inspection that determines the physical, chemical, performance properties, and functional operation of items, or components thereof, using established scientific principles and procedures.

  • Theory of Constraints (TOC)

    Overall management philosophy introduced by Eliyahu Goldratt that is geared to help organizations continually achieve their goal. The philosophy holds that any manageable system is limited in achieving more of its goal by a very small number of constraints. There is always at least one constraint. The TOC process seeks to identify the constraint and structure the rest of the organization around it.

  • Theory X

    A management theory of Douglas McGregor’s that takes a traditional view of management, whereby it is assumed that workers generally dislike work and must be forced by managers and supervisors to do their jobs. (Business, 2002)

  • Theory Y

    A management theory of Douglas McGregor that takes a humanistic view of management, whereby it is assumed that workers like to work and that under proper conditions employees will seek out responsibility in an attempt to satisfy their social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. (Business, 2002)

  • Theory Z

    A management philosophy that stresses employee participation in all aspects of company decision making. (Business, 2002)

  • Third Party

    Generally, a contractor or supplier who ultimately receives monetary payment (grant funds) from the grantee as a result of rendering contractual goods or services in satisfaction of a contract that was funded by the grant.

    See Also: Grantee

  • Tie Bid Preference

    A policy adopted by a public agency that gives preference to a local bidder only if the bid is identical to a bid from a non-resident bidder, all other aspects of the bid being equal. A way to break a tie bid. Other preference may include awarding the tie bid to a minority firm or small business or a bidder that resides within the state in which the bidding occurred.

  • Tie Bids

    Bids submitted by two or more bidders that have identical pricing. May signal collusion.

  • Time and Materials Contract (T & M)

    A contract that provides for contractor payment based on a direct labor, hourly rate that includes benefits, payroll taxes, overhead, and contractor profit and for the cost of materials and equipment used in performance of the contract.

  • Time Series Forecasting

    Methods that use historical data as the basis of estimating future outcomes. A prediction based on the assumption that the trend of variations in the value of a variable will continue to recur in the future; that tomorrow will more or less resemble yesterday and today.

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