Dictionary of Procurement Terms

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  • Wheel of Retailing

    A hypothesis that suggests that new retail operations usually begin at the bottom in price, profits, and prestige, and gradually evolve up the cost/price scale, competing with newer businesses that are evolving the same way. It plays into negotiation strategy, whereby a relatively young company may be willing to sell at cost or at minimum profit to obtain a prestigious account. (Business, 2002)

  • Whistleblower

    An employee who discloses to an outside person or entity an activity by his or her employer that the employee characterizes as illegal, immoral,or otherwise improper. (Nash, Schooner, & O’Brien, 1998)

  • Whistleblowing

    An individual or group of individuals who inform the press or government officials about unethical practices within their own organization. Whistleblowers have uncovered fraud, waste, and abuse within businesses and governments. (Business, 2002)

  • Whole Instrument Rule

    If the whole instrument [Contract], taken together, contains no ambiguities or seeming inconsistencies, there is no room for interpretation; but instruments of that degree of perfection are so rare and the courts are so often called upon to settle questions as to the real intent of the parties expressed in written evidences of Contracts… that a large mass of rules of construction have ….been developed … as forming an integral part of the Law of Contracts…. Rules relating to the construction of a Contract as a Whole (1) the intention is to be determined by a reference to the whole instrument, rather than to any particular phrase, clause or sentence.  (2) ….. the real intent must be gathered from the whole description, including the general as well as the particular.

  • Wholesaler

    An individual or group of individuals who inform the press or government officials about unethical practices within their own organization. Whistleblowers have uncovered fraud, waste, and abuse within businesses and governments. (Business, 2002)

    See Also: Retailer

  • Win-Win Resolution

    A reasonably balanced agreement, with each party feeling they obtained something beneficial.

  • Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE)

    Denotes that a woman (or women) has majority ownership and control of a business. May also be entitled to minority classification by certain public entities.

    See Also: Historically Underutilized Business (HUB), Non-Stocked Item, Small Disadvantaged Business, Economically Disadvantaged Individuals

  • Work Order

    A document setting out all terms and conditions of a repair or alteration transaction.

  • Work-In-Process

    In the manufacturing, production, or construction process, the term given to semi-finished goods, products, or equipment. Something that is not completely assembled or manufactured. (ISM, 2000)

  • Workaround

    A bypass of a recognized problem in a system. A temporary fix that implies that a genuine solution to the problem is needed. Frequently, they are as creative as true solutions, involving out-of-the-box thinking in their creation. A workaround is not a permanent solution and may eventually result in system failure.