Practical Contract Management

What is Contract Management?

Contract management is the process that ensures both parties to a contract fully understand their respective obligations and that these are fulfilled as efficiently and effectively as possible to provide the best value for money This gives the impression of a “adversial” approach to contract management, The role of the contract manager is almost supervisory in nature, ensuring the contractors meet their “obligations”

A good example of the issue of obligations is the recent Atkins case. The organisation denied the claim that contracts represent poor value for money. The company provides a 24-hour accommodation helpdesk and IT platform for the UK Probation Service estate. “This involves the handling of calls, the provision of an asset management system and a works approval and instruction process to the service’s contractors,” a spokesman for the supplier said. “We are meeting our obligations under this contract.”

A Contrasting Definition

We would subscribe to the more modern, enlightened and progressive interpretation of contract management

Contract management is a process by which a contractor is motivated, enabled and empowered to achieve extra value added, over and above that which has been specified originally and assessable against criteria in the original contract. This extra added value can include process innovation, cost reduction and service improvement. The emphasis is this definition is on the contractor as an asset rather than a liability. Another key issue is that the process should be to the benefit of both parties.

For example this approach adopted by BAE Systems and its contractors helped the defence giant unveil the UK’s first unmanned military combat aircraft recently. The £142.5 million programme to build the Taranis vehicle has included supplier investment of around £30 million and was delivered through a partnership deal between BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, QinetiQ, GE Aviation and the UK’s Ministry of Defence.- source supply management

Another definition of Contract management is the active management of the relationship between the client and the contractor over the term of the contract for the provision of goods and services to the agreed standards. This again relates to the relationship aspect.

OGC Define Contract management as “The phase of the procurement cycle in which a supplier delivers the required goods or services in accordance with a procuring authority’s specification” The OGC also makes the point that contract management should be proportionate to the value, risk and complexity of the contract and goes on to highlight some of the benefits of effective contract management include:

• More favourable contract outcomes
• Improved quality of service and customer focus
• Achieving value for money and financial control
• Decrease in the level of risk
• Clarification of roles and responsibilities of the contract manager, contractors, end users
• Early identification and resolution of poor performance, other problems or disputes
• Evaluation of the specification against contract performance and identification of contract changes or variations

Issues of complexity and risk, along with nature of the contract and their effect upon the contract management process are covered later in the book

CIPS Definition

Contract life cycle management “is the process of systematically and efficiently managing contract creation, execution and analysis for maximising operational and financial performance and minimising risk.

The Foundations of Effective Contract Management

The good practice contract management framework developed by the UK government referrers to the four blocks of good contract management, these are:

Structure and resources, delivery, development, and strategy – and these comprise of 11 areas organisations should consider when planning and delivering contract management, together with the key activities that fall under each of the 11 areas (see fig)

Fig 1 - Key Areas

• Planning and governance
• Market management
• People
• Supplier relationship management
• Administration
• Supplier development
• Good practice framework
• Relationships
• Contract development
• Performance
• Risk
• Payment

Contract Management in Context

The guidance goes on to say state that some of the key issues that can influence contract management include the following:

• Whether contract management staff have been involved in the earlier tendering/contract award phase.
• The style of the tendering process. An adversarial tendering process may lead to a more adversarial or confrontational relationship during the contract management phase, although good working relationships between the staff on both sides who will manage the contract can be developed at the same time that separate, sometimes tough, negotiations are taking place to finalise the contract.
• The ‘cultural fit’ between customer and supplier. For example, if one party feels comfortable working in a very process-driven, detailed manner, while the other prefers a more open, high-level relationship, then developing successful contract management will be more challenging.
• A contract where one party feels they are disadvantaged by the terms and conditions, or the commercial terms, of the contract may lead to more adversarial contract management.
• Key hard outputs that have a major impact on the design and effectiveness of contract management – such as key performance indicators and service level agreements – are often determined during the tendering/contract award phase

Role of the Contract Manager

Tim Cummings the CEO of IACCM has identified the role and responsibilities of modern contract managers and administrators. His list combines both the administrative, for example including maintaining records and the more strategic and managerial activities. The list includes:

• Contract Drafting
• Evaluation, Negotiation and Execution
• Serve as the point of contact for customers on contractual matters. Act as contractual “middleman” between company employees and customers, ensuring timely review and approval / reconciliation of variations.
• On all standard and non standard contracts, provide redlined recommendations and often negotiate directly with our customer’s attorneys or purchasing staff until consensus has been reached
• Maintain contractual records and documentation such as receipt and control of all contract correspondence, customer contact information sheets, contractual changes, status reports and other documents for all projects
• Provide guidance on contract matters to project managers, including training to new project managers and other employees in contracting procedures
• Develop and implement procedures for contract management and administration in compliance with company policy. As appropriate, contribute to or influence company policies.
• Monitor compliance by company employees with established procedures.
• Work with Risk Management Department to coordinate contractual insurance requirements.
• Work with Finance to ensure adherence to broader finance and risk requirements such as revenue recognition, pricing and discounting policies,, export controls etc. This may include ‘financial engineering’ and understanding / evaluating economic impact of terms and term options
• Support Product Management / Marketing to ensure company products and services are offered with appropriate, competitive terms and conditions
• Monitor competitive terms. Monitor customer satisfaction with our terms and conditions and contracting practices and recommend changes.
• Ensure that signed contracts are communicated to all relevant parties to provide contract visibility and awareness, interpretation to support implementation.
• Handle on-going issue and change management
• Monitor transaction compliance (milestones, deliverables, invoicing etc.)
• Oversee Service Level Agreement Compliance
• Ensure contract close-out, extension or renewal.

He goes on to state that the emphasis within this list will vary. For example, some groups have little or no responsibility up to the point of contract signature; and others little or no role after signature (though there is a marked trend towards consolidation of pre- and post- responsibilities within the same group). Reporting line also makes a difference, with groups reporting to legal tending to have a narrower set of tasks (potentially little responsibility for non-legal aspects of the contract or related policies and procedures, especially in terms of any financial accountability). Geography has certainly been a major factor in the past, with few Contract Managers visible in non-Common Law countries. However, this is also changing as business globalizes and contract forms and procedures grow more consistent.

Contract management can therefore be said to consist of a combination of roles and responsibilities. However, the main task areas are consistently service delivery management, relationship management and contract administration. Who carries out these functions depends on the nature and scale of the contract. However, it is likely that there will be, as a minimum, a nominated individual responsible for managing the contract on the customer side and one on the provider side.

Contract Administration

The effective and efficient administration of contracts is critical to the overall success of any contract. The process can include a number of the activities for example maintaining signed copies of contracts and is an important part of the process. We need to have a process to ensure that key trigger points are recorded and action taken, for example contract termination dates. We also have to have a process whereby regular reports and (indeed ad hoc reports) of transactions, issues, events etc are produced as management information and distributed to appropriate stakeholders in the process of contract management. Contract administration is key to a successful contract close out, whereby the lessons learned from contract execution can be disseminated throughout the organisation.

The Contract

Contracts, as a key document in the process, are a means to build better business partnerships and to ensure successful business outcomes. Contract Management Systems enforce well-defined contract procedures, assure clear allocation of roles and responsibilities and establish a proactive execution environment.

IT contract management system will reduce risk of non performing suppliers and provide efficiency gains by;

• increase contract visibility across the business
• eliminate the need for disparate systems and redundant workflows
• reduce contract cycle times
• enable collaboration across the enterprise
• provide top- and bottom-line results

Nature of Contract Management and Administration

If we compare the nature of the activities associated with both contract management and contract administration then we can see that the differences are fundamental, yet without efficient contract administration, then effective contract management becomes very difficult, if not impossible

Contract Management	Contract Administration
Relationship focus	Operational focus
Strategic	Tactical
Process development	Process compliance
Longer term time frame	Short term/transactional
Holistic view	Narrow focus
Driven by added value	Driven by key performance indicators

Symptoms of Poor Contract Management

In many organisations contracts are not well managed or administered and as consultants we often come across examples of poor contract management. In the first instance we look for the symptoms of poor practice, the underlying causes can then be better analysed and remedies applied. The symptoms or the observable outcomes include the following

• Poor or inappropriate scope of work
• Cost and time over runs
• Instructions not in writing
• Conflicts and disputes with stakeholders and contractors
• Lack of compliance
• Critical Success Factors not identified
• HSE issues
• Excessive use of variations

All of these are common expressions of a lack of a robust and fit for purpose process combined with less than competent people. The specific causes of poor performance can include a poor contractor selection process, lack of key stakeholder involvement, poor contract execution and focus on price and not total life cycle costs. These issues will addressed later in the book

The Organisational Model of Contract Management

In a recent study conducted by the IACCM entitled the Organizational Models and Reporting Study Survey - drew input from 481 participants across a wide range of industries and regions.

The study to explore how companies deliver contract and commercial services to the business. The study found that the majority have implemented a centralized model, although there are noticeable variations between industries and geographies.

Centralization is more common for procurement than it is for sales contracting. An overwhelming majority of practitioners perceived centralization to offer benefits - a marked change from the findings of past surveys, which indicated strong resistance to the consolidation of resources, believing that it would lead to a loss of flexibility and responsiveness to business / customer need.

The main findings included:

• 48% of businesses have comprehensive cross- business coverage of dedicated contract management resources for both buy-side and sell-side operations.
• 35% of participants on the sell side and 44% on the buy side responded that all contracts personnel have a single central reporting line. The most centralized industry is Technology / Software with 53% on the sell side and 64% on the buy side.
• Reporting lines are varied. 56% on the buy side report within procurement. On the sell side, the highest proportion (34%) report to Legal. A Legal reporting line is most common in Aerospace and Defence, Services and Outsourcing, Technology and Software and Telecommunication.
• 94% of the participants responded that centralization is beneficial.

Survey participants reported that the top three benefits achieved through a centralized contract / commercial management organization are:

• More consistency in handling customers or suppliers
• Improved contract compliance
• Improving the management of risk

It could be said that this shift is driven by the recession and the need for all types of organisations to control costs and extract extra added value from all of its contracts. These finding also indicate a distinctive shift to a more centralised and perhaps higher profile for the contract management process and professionals

if you require more information please email info@dpss.co.uk

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