Master in Public Procurement Management for Sustainable Development
Turin School of Development (International Training Centre of the ILO)
Key Information
Select location
Campus location
Turin, Italy
Languages
English
Study format
Distance Learning, On-Campus
Duration
1 year
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
EUR 9,400 / per year
Application deadline
25 Jun 2024
Earliest start date
31 Mar 2024
Introduction
The International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITC- ILO) in partnership with the University of Turin (Faculties of Law and Economics) & UNCITRAL (UN Commission on International Trade Law) offers this Master in Public Procurement Management for Sustainable Development that explores the legislative, regulatory, organizational and managerial foundations of a modern Public Procurement System. The programme is designed as a blended learning opportunity that combines policy/theory prescriptions with applied assignments and research work. It provides participants with direct access to expertise from academia, international organizations, think tanks and the private sector. It prepares them for a range of executive and managerial functions connected with public procurement management and its supervision.
Over the past decades sound public procurement management has become a key milestone of good governance and national progress. Its significance for social and economic development is reflected in the fact that it constitutes a sizeable proportion of the national economy (15 to 30 per cent of national GDP). It is a valuable instrument for the promotion of environmental protection and “pro-social equity” policies and has, historically, been used by governments to encourage more equitable economic growth. More recently, with the onset of “climate change”, relentless advance of globalization and the increased role of the private sector in governance, public procurement has emerged as an important market-based incentive for promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Through public procurement, governments can “raise the bar” for the respect of labour and environmental standards by all market operators, thereby improving the “quality of jobs” and facilitating the achievement of national sustainable development goals. Hence the term “sustainable procurement”
Public procurement has evolved from a simple routine clerical function conducted within an isolated department of a ministry into a key function of the government’s “corporate management”. Today’s procurement professionals have to deal with increasingly dynamic markets, rapidly evolving technologies and ever-more complex legal and contractual frameworks. In addition to compliance with prescribed regulatory obligations, procurement practitioners also have to demonstrate their governments’ adherence to international agreements in human rights, labour and the environment as well as mitigation of corruption. Reconciling the tension between the aforementioned sustainability objectives and the framework of international trade agreements, while respecting the primary obligations of “best value for money”, transparency and accountability, requires an array of new competencies in procurement.
This program carefully interweaves all these knowledge areas and corresponding application competencies throughout the procurement process for goods, works and services.
Admissions
Curriculum
Part I – Distance learning
The Distance learning period is designed to impart to the participants the necessary grounding in the key learning disciplines of the Master namely:
- Introduction to the legal framework for public procurement
- Introduction to Procurement Management
- Introduction to the economics of public procurement
Part II – Face-to-face
The second part consists of face-to-face learning: lessons will be held in Turin at the ITCILO campus from 8 April to 21 June 2024. Attendance of classes is compulsory. This is the core period of instruction, incorporating application work and group/individual solutions to assignments.
During this part, participants will study 23 compulsory “core themes” covering the expanded contents of the Three Learning disciplines of the Master as follows:
- International Legal instruments governing PP (WTO, EU, UNCITRAL, WB, COMESA)
- Institutional models for PP and integration with Public Expenditure Management
- Economics of Procurement Management, game theory, and reverse auctions
- Companies Balance Sheet analysis and financial reporting standards
- The design of centralized public procurement strategies*
- Procurement Process: Project cycle and risk management
- Procurement methods
- Intellectual Property issues related to Public Procurement
- Public Procurement in the Health Sector
- Procurement Management of Supply Contracts
- Procurement of Physical Services
- Works Procurement Management
- Procurement of Consultancy services
- Procurement in the Utilities sector and Defense Procurement
- Procurement remedies (bidders’ complaints procedures)
- Contract Law and Dispute Settlement
- Supply Chain Management: Logistics, Insurance Policies, and Incoterms
- Legal framework and Economics of Public-Private Partnerships
- Sustainable procurement: social, economic and environmental considerations in public procurement
- Advanced Contract Management
- Fraud and Corruption in Public Procurement
- Procurement Audit
- E-procurement (Legal issues and implementation models)
Part III – Final dissertation
The third part is the preparation and submission of a final dissertation. Participants are required to carry out individual research and submit the final dissertation on a selected procurement topic, under the guidance of their supervisor. The outline of the final dissertation is to be presented in Turin by June 2025 and is to be completed before 13 October 2025.
Program Outcome
The overall objective of this Master’s program is to help bridge the current deficit in qualified human resources and to enable procurement professionals to cope with the challenges of regulating, executing, and monitoring public procurement in an economic and socially responsive manner while mitigating adverse environmental impact.
At the end of the program, participants will have acquired a wide spectrum of knowledge and skills covering:
- internationally accepted principles of governing sound public procurement systems;
- legislative and regulatory frameworks, as well as corresponding institutional models for the successful discharge of the functions of a modern procurement system;
- economic theory, assessment tools, and financial analysis techniques, as well as accounting standards relevant to public procurement operations;
- strategies and instruments for embedding social, environmental, and human rights at the relevant steps of the procurement process/supply chain;
- promotion of corporate social responsibility through public procurement;
- execution of the procurement process for goods works, and services (including innovative contracting modalities like public-private partnerships and e-procurement);
- risk management in procurement operations;
- procurement audit;
- control and reporting techniques for procurement operations;
- design of systems for the prevention and detection of fraud and corruption in public procurement;
- general interpersonal skills (negotiation techniques, team building, and report writing).
Scholarships and Funding
A limited number of partial scholarships covering tuition fees only may become available for students from developing countries/transition economies on a competitive basis among deserving candidates.