Project Process and Procurement Case Study

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Project Process and Procurement Case Study

 

his case study allows you to choose the business process that will be outsourced. You must first decide on the company, and if you use a real one, please do not reveal any names or trade secrets. This may also be a fictitious organization if you choose to use one.

  

Do it Yourself Outsourcing – You design the product or service that will be outsourced

(Due Week 5)

  

This case study allows you to choose the business process that will be outsourced. You must first decide on the company, and if you use a real one, please do not reveal any names or trade secrets. This may also be a fictitious organization if you choose to use one.

 

YourAssignment:

Prepare an executive summary document outlining the entire outsourcing / contracting process for those business processes that you decide to outsource. Your analysis must include the items below.

 

• An analysis on which business processes you would outsource versus those that you would maintain in-house. You need to justify your decision for each business process maintained in-house or outsourced (e.g., accounting, advertising, etc.).

 

• For those services that you intend to outsource:

Establish the type of contract that you will use for each contract (i.e., fixed, cost-plus, reimbursable, unit);Determine the evaluation criteria that you will use to select the preferred vendor(s) (e.g., low price, best value, etc.) [Are there different evaluation criteria for different business units? Why?];Identify the number of vendors that you will select to provide the services that will be outsourced (i.e., one vendor for all services versus individual vendors with specific expertise in each of the services to be outsourced); andConstruct a timeline that summarizes the bid activities and time duration for each contracting process (i.e., plan purchases and acquisition through select sellers).

 

Grading Rubric:

 PointsCriteria5Correlation of the assessment with the TCOs and material covered through Week 5.5Compliance with format requirements.25Assessment of which business processes you would outsource. Determine whether it would be cost effective to outsource the business unit, and also, whether or not it might be helpful or detrimental to your core business.5Assessment of any issues that may arise (both in the short term and long term) for each outsourced business process.5Assessment of the type of contract chosen for each business unit outsourced. Provide a rationale for your choice.5Assessment of the evaluation criteria used to rank the proposals. Again, a rationale for your choice needs to be included.5Strength of argument on the number of vendors selected to provide the services.15Assessment of timeline for bid activities and time duration for each contracting process.Total: 70 

Purpose

Explain the purpose of the paper here in this section. Refer to the case study directions for the explanation of this paper

Current Situation

Describe the current/existing situation in this section, again, refer to the case study directions for the explanation.

Outsourcing/In-house

Describe what you may consider outsourcing here, evaluate your options and provide potential business processes for candidates. For those papers that require you to assess what you are retaining in-house, you would include that here as well. This section should use tables and/or bullets to highlight some of the portions of your assessment. This is also, where you would fully describe the business impact of your in-house and outsourcing position. (Note – in the 3rd case study, this is also where you could define the performance measures you propose.) This should be the largest section of your paper!

Vendor Considerations

You are not looking to actually name your vendors in this section, unless you happen to already know the potential candidates. When developing your procurement plan to begin with, sometimes you know this information up front – sometimes it requires some research after you have been given permission to pursue the outsourcing opportunities. What you want to describe here is the number of vendors you would select to solicit for bid, describing why that is the appropriate number. You would also describe what you propose for eventual awards – a single vendor or multiple vendors to perform the job for you. Again, you would thoroughly defend your position.

Contract Structure

This is the section that you would describe the pricing structure for each proposed process you plan to outsource. You need to fully describe why you select the given option for this particular process outsourcing.

Evaluation Criteria

In this section you would provide the evaluation criteria you propose be included in the RFP for each process you propose to outsource. You need to explain why you chose these particular criteria and how you propose these be used during the evaluation process.

Timeline

This section would describe the timeline for getting to the Contract Administration phase. You could extend beyond that phase, but please use caution – contracts typically last more than a month or two! You would want to provide reasonable time for each of the phases – outline the various tasks for each phase and explain why you propose this particular timeline to accomplish the project.

Directions for Case Study

2

Background:
Case Study 2 allows the student to bring to the table a business outsourcing project that they may have gone through. If this is the case, please do not use real names of either the company or individuals in the paper. If you have not gone through this process, then research an outsourcing endeavor that interests you, and write about it. You need to include the justification for outsourcing the department, the process that has to take place for a successful outsourcing, and the cost of this endeavor.

Please see Doc Sharing for Case Study #2.

Terminal Course Objectives (TCOs)
All terminal course objectives studied up through Week

5

are being addressed in Case Study 2.

1	Given a specific project scope, a set of legal and management requirements, and the availability of internal resources, evaluate optional contract structures and recommend and justify the preferred structure for that given situation.
2	Given a simple procurement need and a complex project that requires one or more procurement activities, compare and contrast the scope and functions of contract procurement/management versus project management.
3	Given a specific project and its anticipated contract administration and project management requirements, create a procurement division of the responsibilities matrix and a project division of responsibility matrix that consider the utilization of internal resources in order to define any external resources that will be required.
4	Given specific contract procurement conditions for a project, identify and evaluate the factors that influence a contract pricing strategy and recommend the strategy that is best suited for the given conditions.
5	Given certain contract objectives and related project requirements, formulate the sections of a project plan that specify the budget, schedule, and technical requirements for the contract.
6	Given the need to procure a major contract, select a set of management and commercial requirements that are appropriate for the size and complexity of the contract.
7	Given the need to solicit goods or services from external sources, consolidate all contract and, if applicable, project requirements into a checklist that will form the framework to guide the development of a Request for Proposals (RFP).
8	Given the award and execution of a contract, analyze and select effective management techniques to control quality, cost, schedule, and scope adherence to the associated requirements specified in the contract.

Resources
The weekly lectures and assigned readings serve as a starting point. Please be advised that considerable relevant material is also available on the Internet, so you might want to conduct a search for some materials that may yield insights into the procurement process that you will be undertaking. Remember to properly cite any outside information you use.
Submittal Format
Case Study 2 should be prepared in MS Word format. Any resources used beyond the ebook need to be cited in your document–including links to relevant websites. Your document shall be written as an executive summary or bulleted list/tables clearly identifying your purpose, relevant data, decision-making/thought process, and conclusion. Your document will be your “go-to” plan for your outsourcing process. You need to quickly and succinctly understand the steps that you’ll undertake for contracting. This means having minimal paragraph-style text, and instead, introducing a variety of tables, graphs, and charts.

While this report should be fashioned as an executive summary, it does encompass the entire contracting process. As such, it shall be between 5 and 8 single-sided pages in length, using 10-point Times New Roman font, and 1.5-inch line spacing. The page requirements do NOT include any cover sheets that you may include with your report.
Submission Details
See Syllabus section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information. A firm 5% per day penalty for late submissions will be assessed. The file name for your submitted assignments should be formatted as follows: “CS2-studentlastname”.
Grading
Case Study 2 is worth a total of 70 points. The 70 points will be allocated as follows:

Points

Criteria

5

Correlation of the assessment with the TCOs outlined above and material covered through Week 5.

5

Compliance with format requirements outlined above.

25

Assessment of which business processes you would outsource. Determine whether it would be cost effective to outsource the business unit, and also, whether or not it might be helpful or detrimental to your core business.

5

Assessment of any issues that may arise (both in the short-term and long-term) for each outsourced business process.

5

Assessment of the type of contract chosen for each business unit outsourced. Provide a rationale for your choice.

5

Assessment of the evaluation criteria used to rank the proposals. Again, a rationale for your choice needs to be included.

5

Strength of argument on the number of vendors selected to provide the services.

15

Assessment of timeline for bid activities and time duration for each contracting process.

Total: 70