Minority Contractors' Views of Government Purchasing and Procurement Practices

This study compares and contrasts the reasons American Indian-, Asian-, black-, and Hispanic-owned firms sell to government, the problems they encounter, and their assessments of the overall quality of the purchasing practices of the federal state, county, city, and school district governments. It also focuses on the governments they regard as undesirable customers. It is based on the responses of 325 minority-owned businesses responding to a mail survey. The overwhelming majority of minority (and nonminority-owned) firms do not believe the current system is competitive, fair, or efficient. However, minority contractor groups differ on their specific likes and dislikes, often because they tend to be clustered in different economic sectors. Minority contractors often view their successes relative to those of other minorities. Governments devising vendor recruitment plans must be sensitive to these differences if they hope to recruit and retain minority contractors within their vendor pools.