The Contract Award Phase

By Author: Sherry Roberts
Total Articles: 99
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Discuss why source selection can be a complicated process. What tools and techniques can help with this process? Explain.
Source selection is the process involved in the decision of who gets the award for a contracting activity. The process can be simple or complicated depending on the circumstances surrounding the contract. The simple process involves looking for the lowest bidder of the contract. The use the formal and structured processes of determining the best value other than the lowest price may pose complications. It becomes complicated since the people concerned have to obtain the right item or service at the right time, from a reliable source, and at the right cost. Best practices in contracts award require that the source selection follows the right phases. Sometimes, the contract givers may want to consider the aspects of cost, past performance, and the technical factors. There are critical tools and techniques that can help in the process. The process should involve the formation of a team after designing the acquisition strategy. The next tool is conducting market research and the determination of the source ...
... selection approach. It can be through lowest price strategy or the tradeoff process. The other technique is the selection of the evaluation factors like cost, past performance, and the technical factors.
Describe the two basic types of negotiation strategies and analyze the implications of choosing one negotiation strategy over another. Provide specific examples to illustrate your points.
The two basic negotiation strategies are distributive and integrative. Each negotiator can use either depending on their goals. Integrative approach is collaborative, and both sides work together for them to achieve the greatest possible benefit for both sides. Each side builds up efforts to increase the total payoff through cooperation. The basis of the strategy is on common interests and combined efforts of both sides (Evangeline, 2015). It is best when a party does not have a strong position to win something in the bargain. An example of using integrative strategy is the joining of workers in a union to agitate for a pay increase.
On the other side, distributive strategy seeks to have an allocation of shares of a limited resource among negotiators. Each of the parties views the others as rivals. Thus, every party strives to get as much as they can over the others. The strategy requires active defensive skills for one party to win over the others. It serves best when a party has strong advantage points and in a good position to bargain (Evangeline, 2015). An example that uses such an approach is every time a person engages a middleman in the purchase of an item to serve as the negotiator.
A poor negotiator can get teachings on the skills that will improve negotiation performance. What are some of the basic negotiation skills that you need to plan effectively and administer a procurement contract?
Negotiation is a common feature in the procurement process. Successful negotiators need to have the relevant skills and experience. They can acquire the skills through formal training and develop experience through their job. The negotiator should have skills in communication, problem-solving, technical aspects, and finances. In addition, they need to have an understanding of the relevant industry (Mahmoodi, 2012). Communication skills enable them to pass their ideas in a well-structured manner. All the involved parties should fully understand the concerns of the negotiator through effective communication. Problem-solving skills are essential for dealing with disputes that may arise in the procurement process. All the parties involved should be comfortable with the decisions made after the problem-solving. Financial skills are very critical since there is no procurement process that does not involve finances. They need to understand how to handle finances and to set their priorities right.
References
Evangeline Marzec (2015) Differences between Distributive Bargaining & Integrative Bargaining Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/differences-between- distributive-bargaining- integrative-bargaining-11582.html
Kosar Mahmoodi (2012) Negotiation Strategies and skills In International business
Source Selection: Best Practices in Streamlining the Process, (April 22-25, 2007), NCMA World Congress.

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