Discussions & Quiz Contracts & Procurement Management
DQ 1: The Preaward Phase
Bid v. No Bid
Class: There are two distinct sides of any negotiation. In many cases, people tend to review contract negotiation from the buyer's perspective. However, no analysis of contracts and negotiations would be complete without considering the seller's perspective on bid participation and negotiation. The bid/no-bid decision requires analyzing the risks versus the opportunities of a potential business deal before deciding whether or not to proceed.
We will consider the buyer's and seller's decision to participate on a bid. Consider the following:
- What are some factors that would be taken into consideration in whether to participate in a bid? Please share any examples that you may have from your experience with bids.
- What tools are available to help us make a good bid/no bid decision?
- What are some implications of declining a bid on a particular project?
- Consider and explain the role of research as it pertains to a bid decision.
Your text has some interesting perspectives on this material, which you may wish to review. You can also research bids on the Web if you feel you need some additional information and examples.
DQ 2: The Preaward Phase
Potential Conflict - Buyers & Sellers
Class, page 100 of our text mentions best practices for buyers and sellers in the pre-award phase. Do you see any potential conflicts between the two sets of suggestions? For best practices in the seller's list, explore a conflict from the buyer's side. Help your classmates consider other conflicts.
Give an example of a negotiation conflict that you have had (buyer or seller), and explain how the situation was resolved. Review what your classmates write, as all of this will offer a variety of examples of what kind of conflict can happen during a negotiation.
This will come in handy later when we explore negotiating.
Quiz
1. What are the four common actions that winning organizations are taking to build successful partnerships?
Unleashing corporate buying & selling power; changing buying & selling processes; developing an integrated supply chain; learning and applying the best practices & e-tools from industry leaders
Unleashing corporate buying & selling power; developing new buying & selling processes; communication; e-commerce
Communication; improved pricing; unleashing corporate buying & selling power; applying best practices
Communication; e-commerce; applying best practices; developing new buying & selling processes
None of the above
2. Which of the following common actions used by winning companies to build successful partnerships would involve strategic sourcing agreements, back-sourcing arrangements, joint-equity partnerships, preferred supplier agreements, and customer agreements?
Changing buying and selling processes
Developing an integrated supply chain
Unleashing corporate buying and selling power
Learning and applying the best practices and e-tools from industry leaders
None of the above
3. What are some of the best practices for building trust?
Listening to the customer
Be accessible
Develop a risk management plan
Document and share best practices
All of the above
4. Describe and explain the six steps in the contract management process for the buyer. Make sure to define each of the three phases of the process.