Rail Analysis India May Digital Edition 2018 | Page 68

68 | Article
Article | 67
Making the Procurement Process Count
Image Credits: KAPM
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Mr. Clement Kwegyir
Afful BSc MSc MAPM CEng FICE
The behaviour of some clients are not acceptable
to enable the suppliers trust them in the first
place. So before you embark on your procurement
process, ensure you have the right team with the
right behaviours so you can select a supplier who
will complement this. Therefore the people you
choose to lead your project will dictate the people
the supplier offers or will affect the behaviours the
supplier exhibit. What is the track record of behaviours for the leaders
being offered to lead your specific project? Get
references from previous clients on these people.
Don’t rely on references from the top leaders from
the client organisation only. Get references from
the project team that they worked with.
Right Price
here are several procurement vehicles available today, and yet projects
are still going over budget and not delivering on the milestones. The
following criteria can help the procurement process add value:
Having the right budget for the project
Tailoring your contract model to suit the project
Preparing properly for the tender phase
Smart supplier selection
Knowing your risks and allocating them well
Smart Supplier Selections
Several organisations have an unwritten code of selecting suppliers based on a cost-
and-quality formula — 70% on cost and 30% on quality. These days, a few of the
organisations may choose suppliers based on quality and technical proficiency alone;
however, this is very rare. Sadly, most project managers still believe that selecting
contractors based on the cheapest offer is the way to go. They fail to recognise that
contractors are not charity organisations and need to be paid for the hard work they
put in. Failing that, your project is headed towards crisis.
The following can add value to your supplier selection and ensure your project is set
up for success.
www.railanalysis.com
Behaviour Track Record
Article Source : KAPM
For this article, I will highlight a few points that can add value to the Supplier selection
AUTHOR :
Client Behaviour
The price shouldn’t be the overriding factor. It is
important to understand how money influences the
behaviour of human beings. Do not be naïve to this
important fact. Suppliers are huge organisations,
with investors, and with only one reason for
operating — and that is making a profit!
Supplier Culture
Research and understand the culture of the
suppliers. An organisation cannot change their
culture over the course of just one project. What
they stand for overall will dictate how they behave
on that project.
Supplier Leaders
Who is the CEO and their top leaders, and what
behaviours do they demonstrate in the industry?
Culture and behaviours are normally dictated and
driven by the leaders at the top. If these leaders are
non-collaborative ones, then it is best to avoid this
supplier regardless of what you think.
Allow Behaviour Improvement Demonstration
Allow the supplier leaders to demonstrate
improvement on behaviours by allowing them to
give examples of some of the wrong behaviours they
demonstrated on previous projects: what caused
those wrong behaviours, what steps they have
taken in the right direction, and what they believe
they can do to remedy this. Don’t compromise on
this. If they are not the right people, just ask for
them to be removed from the selection process if
the overall supplier’s ethos is promising.
Behaviour is key to Success
An organisation’s culture is its DNA — its core
identity, as stated in the Agile Practice guide. Its
culture will always influence the behaviour of its
people. This is why choosing a supplier with a
culture you can work with is critical to the success
of your project.
Further information
An excerpt of ‘Delivering Successful
Megaprojects’. Will be out in May 2018.
The book goes into depth on the tools required
to ensure the success of complex or large
Infrastructure projects.
www.railanalysis.com