General
Procurement and contracts are integral to successful project management. Planning for purchases and acquisitions, requests for proposal, vendor selection, contract administration, and contract closure are integral parts of the process. Learning from Case Studies and benchmarking against better practices, standards and excellence is vital to understand complexity of issues and successful strategies for procurement and contract management. It will also ensure improved responsiveness to key issues, promote supplier-client relationships through proactive management of risks and ultimately deliver higher level of focus on performance-based outcomes.
Specific (Assessment 2 Context)
Assessment 2 is context is a further deep-dive of key issues identified in Assessment 1 to better understand the procurement and financial risks, individual/team accountability and to develop key financial themes and quantify financial exposure. It will also consider using blackboard and Group interaction to develop risk mitigation, to benchmark issues and capture lessons learnt. Areas for possible negotiation and completions documentation will also be identified and acknowledged in the reflection journal.
Assessment 2 – Discussion Board Participation and Team/Group Summary based on further review of the Case Study (new Royal Adelaide Hospital AG Report) and other Learning Resources.
Assessment 2 aims to encourage a further understanding of the procurement and financial risk, mitigations and benchmarking against better practices and excellence reports to ensure successful completion. The specific roles and responsibilities of project manager and procurement manager in the completions effort is also explored.
As foreshadowed in the Context above, Assessment 2 builds on the vital research work and report prepared by students as part of Assessment 1.
Instructions:
Assessment 2a is designed around critical review and discussion board contribution for the Case Study from a current large-scale public private partnership hospital project that aims to create a modern health-care facility in South Australia.
Assessment 2a will involve discussion board contribution by individuals exploring the following key issues:
Typical procurement and financial risks required to be managed for complex projects;Specific financial risks that remain for the Case Study (nRAH) project up to completion (use research information, initiative and judgement);Possible risk mitigation actions that relate to the Case Study project and how these relate to better practice guidelines published by State Procurement Board of South Australia and other learning resources;Areas for further vendor negotiations and management – to achieve successful contract completion of the Case Study project. Areas of key accountability for Project Manager and Procurement Manager in facilitating successful outcome for the Case Study project;The questions for discussion board will be formulated in part by the Learning Facilitator and in part by the students (within their Groups) to critique the above topics and bring out ideas thoughts, develop solutions and ensure students active participation, leadership, feedback, cooperation and time-management aspects.
There are 2 important aspects to discussion board participation:
Rules for participation: a culture of mutual respect towards other students or participants, being timely and relevant (staying on the topic), being creative and bringing critical thinking and thoughtful approach in the interactions. It is expected that student contribution to a particular discussion will be made daily (if possible) and preferably within 3 days of start of a new sub-topic related to the particular ModuleProtocols for postings: minimum 1 paragraph per sub-topic (or discussion question) of 100 to 120 words, explaining reasons for the comment along with evidence to learning resources or internet references. There may also be other clarifications provided (where required for supplementary questions raised by other students). Recognising around 6 sub-topics or questions, each student will contribute around 600 words to 720 words on the discussion board plus clarification responses which may be 1 or 2 sentences (20 to 50 words) over a defined period of time (for a particular Module) say 1 week per module.
Assessment 2b: Group Discussion Summary – (maximum 1,400 Words) will involve the Groups collaborating as virtual teams to consolidate a Summary comprising the following parts:
Part 1: 800 Words maximum – summarize the findings from the discussion board (consider common themes, innovative approaches to consolidate into an agreed Group Summary).Part 2: 400 Words maximum – Identify the most important issues that can be considered for further in-depth review within the Groups for a Group Report (or Group Presentation);Part 3: 200 words maximum – Agree and articulate the individual and team behaviours that students agree to adhere to develop the Group Report (or Group Presentation).
