PMBOK Chapter 13 discusses the Stakeholder Engagement Plan that all projects will require as a key component of the overall Project Management Plan. While you are not being asked here to create a Stakeholder Engagement Plan, please familiarize yourself with the key components that PMBOK considers to be essential to any quality plan development (key Section 13.3.2 discusses these). Pick three of the key components and give a high-level overview of what activities you believe the component requires / entails to be effective in stakeholder relationships. In addition, please discuss why you chose each of the three components as being important to development of the stakeholder relationship.
Please enter your responses in the Discussion area and be prepared to substantiate your choices to your classmates. As is the standard protocol, all classmates are expected to comment on at least two [for the minimum grade] of the postings of your fellow classmates and to continue any ensuing discussions.
Discussion #2
Assignment
Answer the following questions pertaining to the Case Study which is located in this week’s Instructor Notes.
The procurement contract between Electrohospital Consulting Services and Sterling Hospital is a fixed price contract:
Which contract party (buyer or seller) inures the most cost risk in this type of contract? Please describe the extent of the cost risk involved.
Can you identify any behaviors of the project manager representing Electrohospital Consulting Services that may have been influenced / shaped by the use of a fixed price contract?
PMBOK Chapter 12.3 Control Procurements states that “both the Buyer and the Seller administer the procurement contract for similar reasons. Each is required to ensure that both parties meet their contractual obligations and that their own legal rights are protected. The legal nature of the relationship makes it imperative that the project management team is aware of the implications of actions taken [or not taken] when controlling any procurement.”
The case study infers that Electrohospital Consulting Services (the Seller) is making effort to manage the procurement contract – Sterling Hospital (the Buyer) does not appear to be performing any procurement management oversight. Does this lack of oversight impugn the validity of Sterling Hospital’s claim of poor quality of the deliverables?
The “Contract Amendments: Suggested Alternatives Inventing Options” section of the case study seems to be an effort to forklift a project management plan into the existing contract after the fact. Should the Electrohospital Consulting Services’ project manager be faulted for not including or better articulating these key project management tenants in the original contract? Why or why not?
Sterling Hospital also contracted with a vendor to purchase the records management software. The case study implies that this vendor was the “manufacturer” of the software. Should Sterling Hospital be making their lack of quality argument to this vendor as opposed to Electrohospital Consulting Services?
