Discussions & Course Project
DQ 1: The Post Award Phase
Class: Why is it sometimes difficult to get suppliers to complete the final work activities? Do you have any experiences to share or observations related to interesting examples around us? Additionally:
- Why is it more difficult to get fixed-price contractors to complete their contract work as compared to reimbursable contractors?
- What can be done to induce fixed-price contractors to become more responsive?
- What other types of strategies can be employed to induce contractors to finish the work on time?
- How does risk relate to getting the final work completed?
- How often have you seen projects completed early?
This subject is discussed in detail in Chapter 10 of your World Class Contracting text. Please review the material there as well as from any other sources that you can find.
DQ 2: The Post Award Phase
More and more companies are using the project management discipline, internally and externally, to provide a highly focused, integrated, multifunctional solution that meets or exceeds their customers' expectations. Project managers and CMs are working side-by-side to make this happen in world-class organizations. Take a look at the project management maturity model described in Chapter 13 of our World Class Contracting text.
- How do you imagine that project management might aid or detract from the contract negotiating process, depending on how mature the process is within the organization?
- How far along has your company come in terms of the project management maturity model, and how does it aid the negotiating process? Do you have any experiences to share? Do you believe that your company will ever have a project management maturity model?
- How do you see that project management will continue to aid the contract process? What are truly world class companies doing differently in terms of buying and selling to stay ahead of the competition?
- Do you feel that organizations would benefit from using a project management maturity model?