1st Edition

Project Management for Supplier Organizations Harmonising the Project Owner to Supplier Relationship

By Adrian Taggart Copyright 2015

    Conventionally, the literature on project management presents the story from the project client, or Owner’s, perspective. Project Management for Supplier Organizations turns this on its head and explores the challenges and remedies from the perspective of the vendors providing the necessary goods and services to a project. It explains the likely impact on the structure, culture, and procedures of Suppliers and identifies the additional competences they may require. It offers new insights, frameworks and models, in particular a new Supplier Organization’s Project Lifecycle Model, that integrate the role of the Supplier as a member of the Owner’s project team with their own necessary commercial activities such as marketing and selling. For Suppliers, this unlocks the contents of the various Bodies of Knowledge, by showing how and where the tools and techniques of project management apply to their particular role. The text explores in some detail the shared and divergent interests of Suppliers and Owners and shows how a well thought-out and carefully executed procurement process maximises the former and diminishes the latter. Such an insight is equally valuable for any Owner Organization. Adrian Taggart’s book provides a refreshing and essential perspective. For Suppliers managing their role in a project, it offers a real insight and an urgent set of priorities. For Owners it shows how best they can work with their suppliers to mutual benefit.

    I: The Challenge of Projects; 1: What is a Project and Why Project Management?; 2: Structure of Project Delivery Organizations; 3: The Clash of Cultures Within a Matrix; 4: The Life of a Project; 5: A Generic Project Lifecycle Model; II: The Perspective of the Supplier Organization Upon Projects; 6: The Contrasting Predicaments of Owners and Suppliers; 7: The Supplier Organization's Project Lifecycle; 8: The Role of a Supplier Organization Within a Project; III: Aligning the Interests of Owner and Supplier Organizations; 9: Connecting Supplier and Owner Organizations; 10: How Much to Pay the Supplier Organization?; 11: Management of Changes; IV: Selected Project Management Techniques for Supplier Organizations; 12: Marketing in a Project Environment; 13: Selling in a Project Environment; 14: Project Planning for Supplier Organizations; 15: Management of Resources; 16: Project Control; 17: Management of Information; 18: Warranty Phase and Post-Project Considerations; Afterword

    Biography

    Adrian Taggart is an experienced project management consultant. He has managed, and advised on, national and international projects within sectors that include defence, manufacturing, heavy engineering and utilities, requiring him to represent the interests of both clients and contractors. Interest in the topic and its practitioners has led him to teaching project management at MSc degree level, and also tutoring numerous candidates for the professional qualifications of the APM and PMI®. This combination of experience and a detailed knowledge of the Bodies of Knowledge, has given him a strong appreciation of the distinctive differences in how each type of company (Owner and Supplier Organizations) sees project management, the techniques and strategies that work for each, and the different understanding and skills required by practitioners within each.

    ’Adrian has produced a guide that deals with the realities of project management. He addresses the key issues that cannot be controlled by rules and procedures, including the interaction between people, the relevance of organisational structures and the importance of stakeholders. He uses practical experience to guide us through the management of the full project lifecycle from a supplier and owner organisations view. This helps the reader understand the challenges of their counterpart. This is a wide-ranging and practical guide.’ Steve Pears, Managing Director, telent Technology Services Limited ’Much has been written about project management over the last ten to twenty years. Around the world well developed project management Bodies of Knowledge (and methodologies) have developed. One area that is ignored by Bodies of Knowledge is the conflict between the owner organisation and the contracting organisation. These two parties have much in common. They both want a successful project but they measure success in different ways. One wants to maximise profit, while the other wants to maximise the benefit derived from the output. This creates conflict and tension in the project. This book is about how to manage the tension to generate creative solutions for the benefits so both parties get what they want.’ Paul Naybour, Parallel Project Training, UK ’Although private supplier organizations have always existed, they haven’t always been as keen to share their secrets and hidden ways, as their publicly funded customers. This book really opens up the differences in approach between supplier organizations and owner organizations and serves as a solid foundation for both areas. Dealing with the uncertainty of facts and circumstances is a common theme throughout and we are shown some important ways of addressing our own over-confidence and assumptions. What is great about this book is that the author has an entertaining and light-hearted approach of simplifying s