Sample PROJ6004 Contracts and Procurement Case Study

PROJ6004 Contracts and Procurement Case Study Sample

Assessment 3 Context

Assessment 3 is about best project procurement practice and exploring the benefits of performance-based contracting to develop performance criteria, monitoring processes, contract terms and processesthat ultimately achieves a strong focus on project procurement outcomes and behaviours. It buildson Assessment 1 and 2 by using the ideas and issues raised to identifykey issues that can be consolidated by the Groups to achieve focused actions for best Practice and performance- based procurement contracts.

Assessment 3 also builds on contract management by improved understanding of supplier and client relationships to deliver certainty of outcomes and improved value for all stakeholders.

Note: Groups of 4 people will be assigned by the Learning Facilitator in consultation with the students early during Module 1 or 2, so that students can get to know each other within the group well before starting the group project. A group size of 4 has been proposed to ensure diversity, interaction and opportunity for students to grow and lead teams. Only in exceptional situation a different group size may be approved by the Learning Facilitator.

Instructions:

Assessment 3 will be undertaken progressively through Modules 5 and 6 and will involve Group Report (online students) or PowerPoint Presentation (F2F students).

Based on your research of best procurement practice and the performance-based contracting model(s) and how this has been applied on other complex projects, critique how this method could be applied to the case study example. Students will also discuss key performance criteria, performance monitoring, contract terms that drive performance outcomes and associated contract administration, contract management and the contractor’s role in management of project constraints. The last section of the report/presentation will include a group reflection summary of the key subject learnings. Where appropriate consider the aspects below:

• Specific roles and responsibilities of project manager and procurement manager including in supplier development as part of completions effort or through out the project life cycle (as appropriate).

• The complexity of the project and the challenges faced in terms of contracts and procurement management over the full life-cycle of the project;

• Significant issues or controversial aspects that relate to project stakeholders and/or result in significant risks to the contracting parties;

• Leadership challenges associated with project execution, and importance of completions effort to meet the needs of the key stakeholders.

• Possible actions and how implementing those action will improve sustainable outcomes for the community and key stakeholders (students should include learnings from Module 5 and 6 in areas such as performance drivers, performance outcomes, relationships, completions effort and lessons learnt aspects).

• Understand possible common themes or learnings that can be applied to future large projects to improve management of contacts and procurement and ensure project success.

• Bring out (as appropriate) any aspects related to project management practice and or changes required to ensure better project outcomes. Areas for further vendor negotiations and management - to achieve successful contract completion.

• Importance of completions documentation, project closure and lessonslearnt.

Solution

Specific Roles and Responsibilities

The project life cycle includes the four essential phases: initiation, planning, execution as well as closure. In the Bowen Terrace project, it is evident that the project manager, as well as the procurement manager, plays a vital role in the different stages of the project cycle. The specification of the roles and responsibilities of each of the management as well as the suppliers are productive in increasing the transparency in the execution of the service enabling the completion of the project within limited cost and time. For Assignment Help As the budget of the project is $39 million, which is less than that of the standers prices of a similar project in the market and the time for the entire project is 44 months thus the role of project manager and procurement managers is required to be productive along with the supplier development.

Initiation: The initiation of the project includes the bidding for the project and negotiation with the vendors. The procurement manager plays a vital role in this stage. It is the role of the manager to source the strategies and develop the procurement partnerships. The responsibilities include dealing with the external vendors as well as secure the advantageous terms (Calzolari & Spagnolo, 2017).

Planning: The planning stages are associated with the role of the project manners. It is also the stage that allows the development of the suppliers. The project managers tend to develop a proper contract with the suppliers in this stage, and this ensures that the execution of the best deal is made with the supplier so that the project can be completed within the $39 million. For collaborating with supplier's effective internal coordination with vendors on multiple levels helps the project manager to create scheduled outcomes with adequate communication updates (Du Plessis & Oosthuizen, 2018).

Execution: The stages highlight the role and responsibilities of the project manager. The identification of the skills of the employees and allocating them to the task that they can handle the best is the responsibility of the project manager (Obanda, 2017). The implication of the work breaks down structure is also implicated. The project manager needs to identify the critical path so that the project of Bowen Terrace is completed on time.

Closure: The procurement manager needs to deal with the authorities to make documents that are needed for the handover of the project to the authorities (Zolochevskaya, Popova & Medyakova, 2019). It ensures that the terms and conditions of the project are clear to reduce the level of confusion.
The complexity of the project and the challenges faced

The projects with limited time and cost, like the Bowen Terrace project, has to face numerous complexities all over the project life cycle. The dilemma in price attribution with new supplier involvement leads to a lack of buyer and supplier relationship is based on trust (Ibrahim et al., 2017). Some of the common complexity and challenges that are estimated in the project of Bowen Terrace are listed as follows:

• Confusion in the planning stage leading to delay in the project: Gap created between expectation and actual outcome due to lack of clarity leads to stakeholder misunderstanding and increased confusion (Ugoani, 2020).

• Poor allocation of the cost might increase the total project cost leading to loss to the company: Through Dark purchases where the procurement took place outside the conventional business supply chain gets uncontrollable in terms of spending rate causing high expense and low profitability impacting the finances of the business (Toutounchian et al., 2018).

• Lack of proper communication in the execution stage leading to confusion among stakeholders: Lack of simplicity or clarity in paperwork leads to mismanagement and improper decisions (John & Gurumurthy, 2021). Procurement management often faces risks and challenges related to low information search
Significant issues or controversial aspects

Execution of issues due to the poor interpersonal relations of the stakeholders is leading to a confusing working environment. The project of Bowen Terrace is an essential government project, and as the Olympics is due in the year 2032, thus it is essential for the company to identify the significant issues that might affect the contracting parties. It has been evident that the communication gap and poor availability of information are determined to be effective in developing poor trust and understanding among the stakeholders. The vendors and the suppliers considered to be contracting parties in the project get hampered as they are unable to get proper instruction for their serve execution process.

The availability of data from unauthentic sources is contributing to taking wrong decisions in the project management process. In the opinion of Ibrahim et al. (2017), inventory shortage and lack of information update the stakeholder communication between different departments responsible create possibilities of risk related to wrongful deliveries and inadequate resource amount. The high expectation of the project managers is creating stress among the stakeholders, and they tend to get pressured, affecting their services. The part-time employers are contracted to work for the project like Bowen Terrace, and the unskilled flock of the labourers is leading to the poor quality of the project that might hamper the quality of the project.
Leadership challenges

Leadership is essential so that the team in this project is managers and the Bowen Terrace project is executed within the limited coat and times. However, the challenges associated with the leadership practices are huge as the stakeholders have different cultures and ideologies. The leader’s needs to be very specific with their strategies to motivate the staff as the poor approaches to leaders might reduce the stability of the working environment, impacting the project quality. Some of the essential challenges of the leadership are listed as follows:

• The communication gap is the major issue that is faced by the leaders. The staffs are from different communities, and thus it becomes very difficult for the leaders to communicate fluently with each of the staff due to the language barrier.

• The unavailability of skilled labourers light is challenging for the leaders as the quality of the project is at risk (Shokr & Torabi, 2017).

• The confusion among the team members due to poor information flow might affect the working environment acting as a threat to the leadership.
The effort to meet the needs of the key stakeholders

• The introduction of the training for the staffs on the job sites is helpful in increasing the skill of the unskilled labours. The use of motivation strategies is a must.

• The use of technologies to communicate with the staff is needed. It reduces the issues of poor information flows, leading to the reduction of confusion.

• The use of regular team meetings is helpful in developing integration among them, and they feel important and thus are willing to serve the project better (Oke et al., 2018). The bottom-up approaches of leadership, along with the problem-solving skills of leaders, are productive in completing the Bowen Terrace project on time.

Possible Actions

Possible Common Themes or Learning

The project like Bowen Terrace project has been a great source of leanings. The skills adopted to complete the project on time are the eye-openers, and thus the strategic measures are productive in building different themes associated with the project management approaches. Some of the common themes are listed below:

• Smooth decision making with the help of the smart research

With the help of continuous surveys, smarter and faster solutions regarding the comprehensive system of procurement by undertaking larger projects in future can be reviewed for smooth decision transition.

• Proper contract making to avoided confusion

Preparation of the contracts to be reviewed and analyzed, the supplier relationship buildup needs to be analyzed and professional guidance (Montalbán-Domingo et al., 2019). The trustworthy ties with suppliers need to be maintained by streamlining the relationship between procurement processes and eliminating the possibilities of risk proneness

• Elevating the skills of the staff with proper training during the project

Sharper negotiation skills, multiple stakeholder interrelationships and establishing happy supplier association with procurement and contractual basis can be ascertained. Creating a fine line between the development of strategies and creating happiness amongst stakeholder parties needs to be efficiently drawn (Peng, Wang & Xu, 2020).

• Develop better approaches to communication to build better integrity in the team

With the help of network expansion, stakeholder involvement is possible be enhanced qualitatively to speed up organizational outcomes. Increasing efficiency by using new communication technology tools can help benefit the analytical skill process to take the right decisions.

Aspects related to project management practice and or changes required to ensure better project outcomes

In the process of achieving a successful contract completion, it is essential for the management and the vendor to negotiate on each and every term that is to be listed in the contract. In the case of the Bowen Terrace project, the negotiation includes the proper details of the raw material quality that the suppliers abide by to the managers. The quality of the project is an essential criterion that is the main criteria of the client party. Thus the negotiation needs to be efficient. The actions such as active listing along with proper negotiation of the requirement are a must. It is enhancing the services measures. In the view of Du Plessis & Oosthuizen (2018), the contact needs to be flexible in nature, as the external factors of the project are uncertain and can change during the course of the project life cycle. Thus the implication of flexible trends with the vendors is needed. It is to be done so that the deal can is altered with the two-party negation whenever needed. Mutual agreement with the proper negotiation is a must. The project managers of the Bowen Terrace project needs to ensure that the deal in the contract is as per the requirement of the clients and at the same time develop the strategies of limited cost execution. It is essential in developing a better project to succeed for the project.

Importance of completions documentation, project closure and lessons learnt

The implication of the strategies such as documentation is a must for the project closure. Handling the project with proper paperwork and gaining the satisfaction of the clients is a must. It adds up to the market reputation of the company, and thus they can excel in the market (Obanda, 2017). A project like the Bowen Terrace project needs to be in strong alliance with the final product produced. The resource utility needs to avoid failure so that individual and team maintenance leads to an effective solution for final delivery. In the view of John & Gurumurthy (2021), retrieving documents from archives and celebrating the success helps the hard teamwork and moral spirits to be lifted up. The closure stage plays a vital role in the discussion of the drawbacks of the team and what lessons they have learned with the execution of the stated projects. It is thus productive in ensuring that the project is considered to be vital for the practical learning of the team so that they can adopt effective strategies and build efforts to develop efficiency. This is helpful in improving the quality of the project executed by the team and achieved progress along with excellence.

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