Reference no: EM132304170

Contracts and Procurement

Assessment: Contracts and Procurement Case Study

Learning Outcomes

1. Critically evaluate the risks associated with contract and procurement management approaches and make recommendations to global project sponsors with regard to ‘best practice' in this area.

2. Apply judgement and initiative in the development of ‘best practice' contract and procurement process for global project management, identifying the external factors that need to be considered and mitigated for in every instance.

3. Analyse the responsibilities of the procurement manager and project manager necessary to ensure stakeholder satisfaction and successful project outcomes.

General
Procurement and contracts are integral to successful project management. Planning for purchases and acquisitions, requests for proposal, vendor selection, contract administration, and contract closure are integral parts of the process. Learning from Case Studies and benchmarking against better practices, standards and excellence is vital to understand complexity of issues and successful strategies for procurement and contract management. It will also ensure improved responsiveness to key issues, promote supplier- client relationships through proactive management of risks and ultimately deliver higher level of focus on performance-based outcomes.

Specific

Assessment 2 is context is a further deep-dive of key issues identified in Assessment 1 to better understand the procurement and financial risks, individual/team accountability and to develop key financial themes and quantify financial exposure. It will also consider using blackboard and Group interaction to develop risk mitigation, to benchmark issues and capture lessons learnt. Areas for possible negotiation and completions documentation will also be identified and acknowledged in the reflection journal.

Assessment 2 - Discussion Board Participation and Team/Group Summary based on further review of the Case Study (new Royal Adelaide Hospital AG Report) and other subject Learning Resources.

Students are encouraged to look at the full suite of Learning Resources and other public documents associated with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. However, a careful thorough review of the South Australian Auditor General Report for 2015 is required to understand the contracts and procurement issues that have arisen during the execution of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital project, risks mitigations and learnings that can be applied to future such large infrastructure projects.

Assessment 2 aims to encourage a further understanding of the procurement and financial risk, mitigations and benchmarking against better practices and excellence reports to ensure successful completion. The specific roles and responsibilities of project manager and procurement manager in the completions effort is also explored.

Students are also encouraged to understand and explore the related organisational issues, stakeholders and the funding and other finance aspects associated with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital drawing upon the learnings from similar (Private Public Partnership) projects from the Essential Learning Resources.

As foreshadowed in the Context above, Assessment 2 builds on the vital research work and report prepared by students as part of Assessment 1.

Instructions:

Assessment 2a is designed around critical review and discussion board contribution for the Case Study. The discussions are designed to be student initiated and based on the theory and case study resources. Each module will build on information discussed in the previous module, forming a continuous dialog about the subject theory and case study.

Assessment 2a will involve discussion board contribution by individuals exploring the following key issues:
• Typical procurement and financial risks required to be managed for complex projects;
• Specific financial risks that remain for the Case Study (nRAH) project up to completion (use research information, initiative and judgement);
• Possible risk mitigation actions that relate to the Case Study project and how these relate to better practice guidelines published by State Procurement Board of South Australia and other learning resources;
• Areas for further vendor negotiations and management - to achieve successful contract completion of the Case Study project.
• Areas of key accountability for Project Manager and Procurement Manager in facilitating successful outcome for the Case Study project;
• The questions for discussion board are formulated to critique the above topics and bring out ideas thoughts, develop solutions and ensure students active participation, leadership, feedback, cooperation and time-management aspects.
There are 2 important aspects to discussion board participation:
• Rules for participation: a culture of mutual respect towards other students or participants, being timely and relevant (staying on the topic), being creative and bringing critical thinking and thoughtful approach in the interactions. It is expected that student contribution to a particular discussion will be made within 3 days of start of a new Module
• Protocols for postings: 2 to 3 paragraphs per discussion question, Each student will respond to 2 other students' posts, which may be 1 or 2 sentences (20 to 50 words) minimum. .

Assessment 2b: Group Discussion Summary - (maximum 1,400 Words) will involve the Groups collaborating as virtual teams to consolidate a Summary comprising the following parts:

• Part 1: 800 Words maximum - summarize the findings from the discussion board (consider common themes, innovative approaches to consolidate into an agreed Group Summary).

• Part 2: 600 Words maximum - Identify the most important issues that can be considered for further in-depth review within the Groups for a Group Report (or Group Presentation);

Note: Groups will be assigned by the Learning Facilitator in consultation with the students and it is expected that there would be four(4) people in each group. It is expected that Groups will be identified early during the Module 1 and 2 so that students can get to know each other within the group well before starting the group project. Students choosing to complete assessment 3 as a group are expected to be in the same Group for both Assessments 2 and Assessment 3. 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.

Assessments 2a and 2b are both equally weighted i.e. 15% weightage each.

It is expected that the students will undertake sufficient research and reading to effectively contribute and share ideas individually during Modules 1 to 4 discussions, to undertake Assessment 2b. This is important for Groups to achieve sufficient depth of analysis as to provide high quality of information to satisfy the requirements for the case study analysis - based on the above guidelines.

Aspects which should be considered when considering the Group Summary:
• 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.

Pre-work for Assessment 3 (Group/Individual Report online or Group/individual PPT Presentation F2F)
As part of the Assessment 2a and 2b, students are also encouraged to prepare and better understand other related aspects of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital project so they can actively collaborate and undertake Assessment 3.
• Identify the overall Project Context and Processes adopted to review the Learning Outcomes and research from other public information pertaining to the New Royal Adelaide Hospital Project;
• Identify the Top 5 issues that require attention going forward, possible actions and how implementing those action will improve sustainable outcomes for the community and key stakeholders;

• Explore contracts and procurement management effort for large complex projects (including public infrastructure projects) to ensure successful project outcomes. Identify any cultural or other aspects that apply;
• 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.

Important note: If the Virtual Team functions well, the above pre-work can be extracted from the routine Agenda item i.e. to progressively distil key themes noted above. The pre- work is more about being disciplined and organised.

Learning Activities and Output:

The learning process will involve a review of the case study material, reflection and participation on the discussion board, examine lessons learnt and highlight issues for further consolidation in the Group Summary.

You will be encouraged to reflect on your case study findings in order to identify contracts and procurement management better practices which can be applied in the future to significant projects that you may lead as project manager or oversee in a senior role.

Attachment:- Contracts and Procurement.rar