Is there anything the team should have done when they received only three proposals by June 30?
When the team was assembled and started the process for soliciting for requests for proposals, they wanted and expected at least eight proposals to choose. After receiving only three proposals by the June 30 deadline, they should have come up with a contingency plan to be able to get more proposals. According to the business dictionary (2016), contingency planning is an activity undertaken by management or employees in an emergency to ensure that proper follow-up steps and immediate action will be taken. In this case, the team should have come up with a plan to curb this situation. The immediate action they would have taken was to extend the deadline for accepting proposals or give a grace period for late projects so that in case there were other contractors as if Asia general who were interested but could not beat the deadline could hand in theirs.
Being that it would take place in China, they should have anticipated at least one bid from a local company. After receiving none, they should have put a notice to extend the deadline by another 30 days to ensure that they have exhausted every possible company that would want to bid for the contract and let the companies that had already submitted their proposals make any changes if they so wished. The world has enabled them to get more proposals as they had planned at the beginning and probably get better ones to choose. Also, by extending the deadline they would legally and without bias include the last proposal without considering it non-responsive nor have to debate about whether to include it or not.
Should the team consider the proposal from Asia General Contractors? Why or why not?
Yes. The team should consider Asia general contractors, though their proposal came after the deadline. Asia general contractors are a local contractor who gives them an added advantage over the other contractors by having more knowledge of the local environment, weather, and available resources among other things that are essential for the construction. Another good reason to consider them is the fact that they are offering to do the work with less money than the management team had set and finish the construction four months ahead of the stipulated time. Their deadline for June 30 was on condition that they receive eight proposals and when they did not they could have extended the deadline. Should they consider this, extending the deadline, Asia general contractors will have met the requirements, hence be viable for consideration during the evaluation?
They should first consider the best option for their company regardless of time and costs. The proposals from the contractors should be taken before making correct decisions. The best way to both preserve the company’s image and reputation and consider all proposals may be to advertise the request for proposals again have already submitted.
After sharing their individual comments at the start of the July 15 meeting, how should the team proceed with the rest of the meeting and any follow-up?
Promoting leadership objectives emphasize on my capacity to determine the appropriate style and seeking to be helpful to the organization. Among areas worth looking into are on concepts related to emotional intelligence, motivation, and providing support to group objectives It is about choosing the strategies that can help members become confident about their roles and see its relevance in fulfilling the overall vision. Delegating duties are also significant in the distribution of chores according to personal strengths and weaknesses. Leadership aim promotions stresses on the ability to find out the appropriate style and looking into imbibing the organization’s visions so that each member feels part of the meeting should be re-visited to ensure everything is in line as planned. The aspects discussed in the last meetings should be guideline to what is to be discussed. The first decision they need to make as a team is whether they will consider the Asia general contractor bid as the different members of the team have differing opinions on the issue. They should also decide if they would extend the deadline to give room for more proposals that might have been handed in if the time limit was not June 30 or work with the previously stated deadline. The team was targeting at least eight proposals and at the end, they got half the number of projects they were expecting. If they decide not to extend the deadline and not to consider the Asian contractor, then they should start evaluating the three proposals at hand.
In this evaluation, the most important aspects they should consider include the technical and the management bit of all the proposals. The proposals that will pass the two viability tests can then be evaluated regarding their costs, experience of the contractor and their innovativeness. The team made various changes in their schedules so that the fixed timeline of the Toyota Manufacturing goes on as planned. They should also inform the contractors of the receipt of their proposals. It will help the contractors know that their proposals were received; they are being evaluated and should wait for a response from the company within a specified duration of time.
How could the selection process have been improved? Is there anything the Board, I.M. Uno, Alysha, or the team could have done differently?
They would have put into consideration that since they were constructing in China, there was a possibility of Chinese or Asian contractors bidding, which would have helped them, consider extending their deadline when no local contractor had bided. The team had a boost from an able management team that involved various figures who exercised their experience in making good leadership. On the other hand, they worked tirelessly so that the projects became a reality. Among points that should be looked into keenly on matters related to emotional intelligence, motivation, and provision of support to members so that they achieve the objectives. It involves choosing on the strategies that can assist members become confident with matters about their roles and the relevance of their roles in rising up to the protracted vision.
The time they stipulated for evaluation of proposals to come up with the final one was limited, and they should have put the four months they used for the process as the time to evaluate the proposals (Coates, 2013). The team in charge of the whole process should have also increased the number of people who got access to the advertisement by including newspapers in their list of avenues for advertising. Instead of taking two weeks to go through the proposals they had received, they should have taken the cue from Asia general contractors and reconsider extending the deadline first before starting the evaluation process. Considering that Asia general gave their proposal late, there was a possibility that there were contractors who would have handed in their recommendations before time elapsed.
At the start of the process, the team knew that their competition was also considering to build in China, with this in mind, they should have come up with ways of evaluating proposals with this particular factor included (Pappis, 2011). It would enable them to either rule out or rule for contractors who might be associated with their competition. The board chose the team that would solicit the proposals and wanted them to have an answer to present by the time they were having their next meeting. The time the team had to put together the RFP requirements, advertise, and allow for response was limited and considering all this; the board should have allocated more time to the team to ensure that they did everything exhaustively.
Reference
Fria, R. T. (2005). Successful RFPs in construction: managing the request for proposal process. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Pappis, C. P. (2011). Climate change, supply chain management, and enterprise adaptation: implications of global warming on the economy. Hershey, PA, Information Science Reference.
Coates, R. (2013). 42 rules for sourcing and manufacturing in China: A practical handbook for doing business in China, special economic zones, factory tours and manufacturing quality. Cupertino, Calif: Super Star Press.
Midler, P. (2011). Poorly made in China: An insider's account of the tactics behind China's production game. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.
