Part 1
The procurement process of all the departments from different managers across the organization is what is referred to as coordinated procurement. Procurement is obtaining products and services from outside. In a project procurement process is very important because delivery of goods and other resources for the project should be within time and budget. The administrative cost incurred by each manager in the process of procurement is minimized if the process is less than one office. The older project managers have concerns and views that should be addressed. As the person in charge it is important to clarify issues with the project managers. The project that the organization is undertaking needs to minimize the risks and enhance performance. Having a coordinated procurement and scheduling system enhances project visibility, control and performance of the project.
One of the aims of having a coordinated procurement system is to ensure that better value for the money on behalf of the organization. Having a coordinated procurement procedure improves the value of money of an organization by cutting down the cost of procuring the products and services. There will be an improved business objective achievement by the organization.
The recurrent and fixed costs are reduced when we have a central office doing procurement. Because we are working on a project that requires resources to be within a budget and schedule, it will be beneficial if a single office handles the process using standardized procedures. Managers can be concerned with tasks in the project and give the procurement experts a chance to do their work which they are well experienced.
If an organization uses segmented business systems and informal processes in procurement, then the project will face many challenges. Enforcing contract compliance in an organization is one of the challenges that departmental procurement face. The visibility of the organization in contracts and performance is limited when there is no standardized procedure. An organization can face inflated costs, diminished negotiation leverage, poor compliance, loose revenue opportunities and regulatory backlash.
Some of the projects that have been done in an organization with each manager developing their own procurement process for the scheduling tool. Lack of control of contracting practices is one of the issues. The contracting practices of an organization are based on the tools used to conduct business. The central procurement office and the project manager will not have authority on the procurement process. Contract terms are negotiated with the vendors by different departments and individual units depending on their needs this makes the project officer have limited power on this process.
If there will be no central location of creating the procurement process, will result into lack of data repository of reportable contract information. There is no information about contracts hence problems during contract renew on time and last-minute renewals which results into unfavorable terms. There should be an integrated system to ensure that operational procurement systems and payments systems for efficient contract terms compliance, monitoring and control. There will be no alerts or indicators in monitoring of significant milestones in the project to ensure that the project remains on course.
Poor project implementation is as a result of not visible enterprise-wide terms and contracts. Organizational change management aspects not well addressed. Doing procurement process in a departmental level or different business unit may result into lack of adherence to the measurement and management procures.
Older managers raised issues in this project procurement procedure because there was no good communication and awareness of this process. Managers were afraid that the coordinated procedure is a system meant to audit their conduct of incapability.
Part 2
One of the key success factors for a project is the procurement process of resources. The success of a project is measured by the adherence to time and the budget. If the procurement process is not well integrated into the project plan, then the project is at risk of failing. Projects can be funded internally or externally. Project managers are supposed to take care of the interests of all of the stakeholders in a project. Therefore, project managers have a responsibility of understanding and managing the procurement process in both purchasing and selling side. This is should be done in terms of the preparing tenders ad quotes to specific customers.
Procurement process in a project plan involves four steps; plan procurement, conduct procurements, administer procurements and close procurements. The project managers decide what is required by an organization. The procumbent management plan will be integrated into the project. The decisions on which products or services should be procured are made at this level. The project teams are the ones who are tasked with the process of deciding what to buy. It should be clear that procurement process can be integrated into the project by involving the project team in the process of establishing what is supposed to be purchased. Since the current managers engage suppliers at will there will be proper laid out procedure of how to engage vendors.
Development of the procurement plan will be based on several documents such as the project scope, the project requirement document, the project schedule and the project risk management. The project manager has to make a decision of what is to be purchased and how to purchase. The work break down structure provides an avenue for the project managers to make decisions. This first process ensures that a statement of work which gives specifications about items that the team project members make a proposal of what is to be done.
A project manager will also require the help of the procurement process of the organization in making the decisions. The contract where terms are spelled out should be clearly established in the process of procurement process.
The second stage is conduct procurement which is a major component. This is process of selecting the suppliers and procurement contracts. This process is integrated in the project plan by the use of the resource calendar. The resource calendar is part of the project schedule. The resource calendar tells the project manager when the resources are required. Conducting procurements can be done using different tools and techniques.
The suppliers and the project team involved in the purchasing process can hold conferences to address some of the misleading information. The conference can be held to give information to the suppliers on the rules and regulation. Proposals can be made and invitation to tenders is also established in this process. The process and procedure of evaluating proposals or bids is also established. Evaluation of complex responses requires a team of experts. How bids will be evaluated and bidders are also given opportunity to question those terms of bid evaluation.
Procurement negation is a process that occurs after the bids have been completed. The buyer and the seller meet after submission of the proposals to discuss and resolve any differences. The process of negotiation is aimed at ensuring that both the organization and the suppliers comply with the contract terms.
The third process is administering procurements. This process is used to sustain the relationship between the suppliers and the organization. This is a process as a result of the procurement document where stakeholders are required to raise their concerns. If there are changes in the procurement process, they are analyzed and addressed using the changeover control document. The reviews of the procurement performance, inspection and audits are done in this stage.
The final step is close procurements. This is the final process needed in a procurement exercise and the procurement contracts. This is process is done after the contract has been completed or ended at a given level. Some of the activities done in this process include audit of the procurement process.
There are three types of contracts. The fixed price; cost reimbursement and time and material (T & M). The firm fixed price where buyer pays the seller a set amount regardless of the seller’s cost and the buyer bears the risk cost. Cost reimbursement is where the buyer pays the actual cost and the buyer also bears the risk cost. The last one is the time and material the T & M contracts are treated as a special case of cost. Cost plus contract and time and material will be implemented.
Procurement project process is a task that project manager can integrate in a project process. Project plans and project schedules are used in determining how the procurement process. The process of integration is not difficult because there are laid done procedures. I believe that this procurement management process. The resources required by the project will be delivered on time. The quality of products and services will also be improved because managers will no longer engage suppliers at will. Standardized procedures also ensure that the products are within the budget and are of high quality.
Reference
Hulland, J. (1999). Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies. Strategic management journal, 20(2), 195-204.
Thompson, A. A., Strickland, A. J., & Gamble, J. E. (1998). Strategic management: Concepts and cases. Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
