Konkurrens, anbudsvärdering och entreprenörernas innovativa agerande inom vägbyggnadssektorn

Sammanfattning: The Swedish National Road Administration SNRA is responsible for the long term de-velopment of the road transport system, and spends large sums on road construction and 'operation and maintenance'. Improvements in efficiency which are small in per-centage terms therefore yield relatively large monetary effects. In order to create and maintain a strong and competitive road construction sector and at the same time to sat-isfy the demands for efficiency, all the players must be encouraged to devote resources to development work. The clients of road contracts can induce the contractor through the procurement proc-ess to be more innovative by directing competition which is assumed to affect the con-tractor's motivation to be innovative, by models for evaluation of tenders which exer-cise control over the contractor's actions and are also tools for objective appraisal of in-novative proposals and by his direct behaviour versus the contractors. Competition can however function both as a stimulus and as an obstacle to more inno-vative action on the part of the contractor. Even if clients are successful in controlling competition, further action is necessary to induce contractors to be more innovative. The conclusion is that it is not competition as such that affects innovation, but the tools which the client employs in other respects. In the same way that the contractors, via the clients' requirements in valuation models, have been forced to improve their procedures for e.g. quality systems and environ-mental measures, they should also be able to, encouraged by the evaluation model, de-velop a more clear-cut organisation and policy for innovative processes. The clients direct behaviour versus contractors might motivate higher innovative actions by for ex. · specifying and defining the development need for the contractor. · adopting a more positive attitude to alternative and innovative proposals. · using terms of contract which give more scope for the contractor. · using economic stimuli, rewards, payment for sound proposals which are not applied directly. · giving the contractor a longer time to submit its tender.