how a tender works
as noted above a tender is a term used in business to refer to an invitation by governments and other entities to submit a bid for contracts most institutions have a well defined tender process for projects or procurements there are also specific processes in place to govern the opening evaluation and final selection of the vendors this ensures that the selection process is fair and transparent a request for tender is a formal and structured invitation to suppliers to submit competitive bids to supply raw materials products or services because this is a public and open process laws were created to govern the process to ensure fair competition among bidders 12for example without laws bribery and nepotism may flourish tender services are available for potential bidders and include a wide range of tenders from private and public sources these services include crafting suitable bids coordinating the process to ensure deadlines are met and ensuring compliance with applicable laws in the private sector requests for tenders are referred to as requests for proposals rfps this allows potential bidders to respond to the defined needs of the issuer tender vs tender offer