PROGRAM'S BACKGROUND

In every organization the effective expenditure of enormous sums of money and resources is dependent on successful contract management activities. Creating and managing formal agreements with suppliers of goods and services requires not only a complete understanding of the business requirements and organization needs, but also depends on keeping up-to-date on contracting. This program is designed to explore the advanced practices generally viewed as leading to World-Class performance in contract management so that participants can determine where they are now and begin immediate implementation of the steps needed to create maximum total value for their organization.

PROGRAM'S OBJECTIVES

     This Program’s Attendees Will Be More Able To:

›       Be more effective in contract management activities

›       Locate the appropriate type and form of contracts for every situation

›       Anticipate problems and manage risks

›       Integrate project management with contract needs

›       Best means of handling disputes and performance issues

›       Establish terms and conditions for every situation

›       Learn the latest advances in contract management

PROGRAM'S ATTENDEES

›       Engineering Project, Construction, Tenders, Contract, Buyers, Purchasing, and Financial personnel in organizations whose leadership wants advanced skills sets in those involved in major contracting activities.

›       The program is a great way to develop those new to the function, prepare for a major project, or useful as a refresher for veteran managers.

PROGRAM'S OUTLINE

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD CONTRACTING

›       Overview of tendering & contract award process

›       Key steps of the contract process

›       Essential elements of a valid contract

›       Types of obligation documents

›       When to obtain legal advice

ORGANIZING STRATEGIES FOR CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

›       Defining contract management responsibilities

›       Planning for contract life cycles

›       Work plan best practices

›       Tools to improve personal organization

›       Communications

IMPROVING PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR CONTRACTS

›       Essential elements of project management

›       Contract startup techniques and tools

›       Incorporating risk management

›       Warranty and claims management

›       Cost tracking and management

›       Project closeout

ELIMINATING SOURCES OF CONTRACT DISPUTES

›       Law of agency

›       Errors and omissions

›       Conflict resolution

›       Dealing with unknowns

›       Tracking changes

›       Anticipating conflicts

›       Managing expectations

EFFECTIVE HANDLING OF CONTRACT PERFORMANCE ISSUES

›       Design and specification

›       Work ordering process

›       Contract administration

›       Reporting mechanisms

›       Cost control

›       Quality assurance and control

›       Recovery clauses

›       Termination

UNDERSTANDING & DEVELOPING CONTRACT TERMS & CONDITIONS

›       Finding contract templates

›       Equipment purchase agreement

›       Software development and purchase agreement

›       Chemical purchase agreement

›       Equipment maintenance agreement

›       Ocean transport services agreement

CONTRACTS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

›       Online contracts

›       Strategic alliance agreements

›       Consolidated sourcing contracts

›       The new engineering contract (nec)

›       Supporting e-commerce

THE TENDERING PROCESS

›       Major steps and flow of the tendering process

›       Owners objectives

›       Contractor’s objectives

›       Reviewing the tender request and price estimate

›       Developing the work breakdown structure

›       Identify basic planning assumptions

CONTRACT ACQUISITION TEAM

›       Leadership

›       Team composition

›       Typical roles

TYPES OF CONTRACTS & RISKS

›       Contract types

›       Mitigating risk by contract type

METHODS OF PAYMENT

›       Progress payments

›       Issues related to forward pricing

SUPPLIERS

›       Supplier categories

›       Selecting suppliers

›       Qualifying suppliers

›       Performance evaluation criteria

›       Obtaining financial information

BIDDING PROCESS

›       Inquiry package

›       Model inquiry package

›       Instruction to bidders

›       Requesting supplier’s cost or pricing data

›       Modifications and clarifications

PRICE ANALYSIS

›       Selecting prices for comparison

›       Factors that affect comparability

›       Determining the competitive range

ECONOMIC PRICE ADJUSTMENTS

›       Terms & conditions for adjustments

›       Price adjustments using price indexes

STRUCTURING & APPLYING INCENTIVE ARRANGEMENTS

›       Cost incentive pricing arrangement

›       Award-fee pricing arrangement

QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES FOR CONTRACT PRICING

›       Cost-volume-profit analysis

›       Measuring central tendency

KEY COST ANALYSIS CONSIDERATIONS

›       Reason for cost analysis

›       Defining contract cost

›       Cost estimating methods

›       Analysis of supplier provided cost data

COST ANALYSIS

›       Identifying direct materials and subcontract pricing

›       Analyzing direct labor costs

›       Determining and evaluating other direct costs

›       Importance of indirect cost in cost analysis

›       Identifying indirect cost categories

›       Insuring fair allocation of indirect costs

›       Analyzing proposed rates

PROFIT FEE ANALYSIS

›       Factors to be considered

›       Examples of weighted guidelines

EXCHANGES PRIOR TO NEGOTIATIONS

›       Determine the need for pre-negotiation exchanges

›       Methods for conducting exchange

›       Preparing participants for face to face exchanges

ADVANCED NEGOTIATION PLANNING & STRATEGIES

›       Identifying negotiation Issues and objectives

›       Assessing bargaining strengths & weaknesses

›       Preparing a negotiation plan

›       Bargaining techniques

›       Bargaining tactics and their countermeasures

ADDITIONAL DETAILS