Procurement and contract management

Posted: October 17th, 2013

Procurement and contract management

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Procurement and contract management

Contract management refers to the administrative activities aimed at handling contracts made with other entities. Possible contracts might include bidding invites and evaluation and payment of work done. The process of contract management is divided into three. The first phase is identification. This involves identifying and testing different projects for quality control purposes in ensuring the partnership between the procuring party and the bidder is increased. This culminates in settling on one project that is viable enough to be developed as a joint effort through procuring. The sponsoring authority is responsible for this first part of the process and might be a ministry, a department or other corporate entities. (Taylor, 2000)

The second phase is the feasibility stage. This is the beginning of development of the selected projects. These projects undergo a detailed analysis involving looking at the project management details. Essentially, this feasibility study seeks to fish out loopholes in the projects and repair them accordingly. This study is also intended to discover the partners’ due diligence. Selection of the best procurement method and first drafts of the bidding process commence here. The bids that are presented in different currencies are converted to a standard currency (Contract management, 1900).

This third phase is called the Procurement stage. At this level, the best-qualified private sector partner is chosen according to the earlier feasibility studies done. The qualifying process that is used to eliminate different projects as well as the final drafts for the key bidding documents is described. Conclusion on the contract details are also finalized at this stage. The sponsoring authority is again responsible for facilitating this stage.

In my opinion, the second phase is most important. Particularly, the evaluation of bids is the most important part. It is only through an intensive investigation into the finer details of each bid that the sponsoring authority will end up with the most competent bidder. The careful selection of a bid will eventually determine the quality of work done as well as other professional attributes like firm accountability. Likewise, poor evaluation will result in poor quality of work by the winning bidder.

Reference

National Contract Management Association (U.S.). (1900). Contract management. Vienna, Va., etc.: National Contract Management Association.

Taylor, C., & Kelly, J. (2000). Contract management. London: Eclipse Information.