Project Procurement Management In Practice – Judith A. Edwards, PhD, PMP | Assignment Help

Person 1Post (Amy)

Project Procurement Management In Practice – Judith A. Edwards, PhD, PMP

Edwards article on procurement delivers the case for managing procurement within a project with a well-planned systematic process. Although this piece was published in 2006, the points made and suggestions offered remain relevant today. The author explains the procurement process within a project should also be treated as a project itself (Edwards, 2006). In this fashion, best practices can decrease the risk inherent in procurement. Beyond reducing risk, procurement processes have addressed reduction in contract fraud, selection criteria, description of goods/services and refining monitoring and control of costs and performance.

The project procurement process is outlined in the article. Specifically, roles and responsibilities are displayed in the Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM). According to Edwards, this process must have a varied, cross-functional team to fill these roles (2006). The RAM must be updated throughout the project and align with organizational processes. This description aligns with what the PMBOK describes as Organizational Process Assets (Project Management Institute, 2017). The organizational processes, or OPA’s, will help determine how to put the team together, the responsibilities of each role and the methods employed.

Edwards also lists several best practices for each knowledge area or phase along with some proven techniques for success. One of the lessons learned that really stood out to me was that “risks increase by avoiding steps in the process” (Edwards, 2006). I venture to guess; we have all seen this happen. The three scenarios the author summarizes were very helpful to me in applying the principles in this article to real world examples.

Edwards describes in scenario 1 a Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) procurement process (2006). This is similar to a project I am currently on. We were just beginning to collect requirements from end-user stakeholders across our company. The proposed project aims to replace an outdated customer management system that will affect every division and almost every function in the company. In the middle of this collection, the project manager was directed to entertain a bid from a previous seller for a product that executive leadership thinks will work for our needs. Although this COTS product could very well be the replacement we are looking for, the process is not being followed. If we truly want to do this right, the requirements need to be well defined first so that the product can be measured against these requirements as Edwards suggests (2006). The strength in picking this product is that it could strengthen our relationship with the vendor and potentially save time in planning. The weakness is as I mentioned above; the process is not being followed and therefore increases the risk of the COTS not fulfilling the requirements and subsequently increase costs and frustration down the road.

The project manager must be well-versed in procurement and their organizations specific procurement processes. I agree with Edwards that the procurement process must be managed with project management principles to decrease risk and safeguard project success. There are many pitfalls in the vendor selection process and contract negotiations. Additionally, the project manager must understand their own organizations process if simply to keep everyone out of trouble on the project. Not just anyone in any given company has the authority to sign and negotiate contract. If the project manager understands these principles and best practices, they are able to utilize procurement specialists and manage the procurement process within the project with a higher degree of competency.

Reference:

Edwards, J. A. (2006). CHAPTER 15: Project Procurement Management In Practice. In, AMA Handbook of Project Management (pp. 196-205). Ipswich, MA: American Management Association International.

Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK guide) (6th ed.). Project Management Institute.

Person 2 post ( Mandeep)

Project Procurement Management is one of the important practices in the process of project management. The main purpose of applying this effort in project management is to manage all the small work skillfully. Many organizations do not implement procurement practice because they feel it is costly for the project as well as it takes a long time. There is a risk of not practicing procurement in the occurrence of waivers or deviations in the project (Edwards, J. A., 2006). There are various methods for adopting project procurement. Generally, this process is developed for the following reasons:

• To reduce or overcome instances of contract fraud abuses
• To reduce risk
• To control and monitor costs and performance of the project
• To determine criteria for the selection and acceptance

The procurement is embedded in a large project effort which satisfies the definition of the project which is seemed as specific with different complication and timeframes. The project manager must assure the processes are completed and the desired objectives are achieved by the project team (Edwards, J. A., 2006).

I am working for Quick track Inc, the chain of a convenience store. There run numbers of the complex project which needed the help from the vendors and outside partners. My company follows the procurement processes of planning the project work first. Before the project started my manager held the meeting for introducing the project where all the project events are already clarified. The project work is already fixed about the initiation, departments for external supplies and purchasing, receiving, shipping as well as review and approve all the necessary elements for procurement for the execution of the project. The strength of this process is, it is a systematic arrangement of documentation about all the project work initially so it clarifies the goal, schedule, limitation, budget of the project. It helps to reduce the risk of losing contractors as they have already an agreement of service and deliverables. It has some of the weakness that it is sometimes taken as the time-consuming work, costly.

The project manager needs to understand the principles of project procurement processes for performing the project activities. This process includes all the areas of purchasing products or services. Project procurement agrees to either buying and selling the products or the services as a goal of the project. With the introduction of the project work, the project manager makes further documentation to move the project forward. It includes all the events for the project to meet the project destination. So, in this case, the project manager is the responsible person to make the stakeholder satisfied and also run all the project activities as it was initially planned. It depends on the skill of the project manager to handle the project as it was previously described.

Reference,

Edwards, J. A. (2006). CHAPTER 15: Project Procurement Management In Practice. In, AMA Handbook of Project Management (pp. 196-205). Ipswich, MA: American Management Association International.

Project Management Institute, In. (2017). A Guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® guide). (6th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.