Project Analysis and Contractual Clauses: Lessons Learned
Alternative Dispute Resolution Clause
1. What would be the most appropriate name for a contractual clause dealing with disagreements between the parties in the course of project implementation that are to be resolved with the help of a mediator?
Answer: Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Improving Internal Processes
2. What should be made clear to former project staff as part of the analysis?
Answer: That it is only about improving internal processes.
Documentation When a Project Employee Leaves
3. What do you have to consider regarding documentation when a project employee leaves the company?
Answer: All relevant correspondence (e-mail, etc.) must be archived.
Correct Decisions in a Failed Project
4. A colleague conducts the analysis of a completed project and tells you that he has identified ‘a number of correct decisions’ that were made in the course of the project. He also says that ‘the project was a huge failure’. In your judgment, can both be possible at the same time?
Answer: Certainly. Even with a number of correct decisions made, a project can still turn out not to be successful in the end.
Decision-Making Process in the Execution Phase
5. You are tasked with analyzing an important project that has recently been completed. You are bothered by the adequacy of the decision-making process in the execution phase. The answer to which question will help you clarify matters?
Answer: Were all promised deliveries made in time?
Handling of ‘Planned’ Clauses
6. You are analyzing the company’s most important project of the last years, which has just been completed somewhat successfully. As you analyze the negotiation phase, you discover something peculiar about the handling of the ‘planned’ clauses of the contract. How could your findings offer valuable lessons for future projects?
Answer: By providing guidelines for win-win negotiations.
Latest Point in Time for Project Analysis
7. What is the latest point in time that should be taken into account when analyzing a project?
Answer: The day when the analysis takes place.
Complexity: Purchasing Bread Rolls vs. a Company
8. Explain why purchasing bread rolls is usually less complex than purchasing a company.
Answer: Purchasing bread rolls is a simple transaction, mostly about price and quantity only (2 points), and it can be conducted orally (2 points). Buying a company usually takes place in written form and includes many more provisions (such as guarantees, payment milestones, etc.) (2 points).
Contractual Obligations: Procurement vs. Sales
9. A relative of yours works as a contract manager who supports the procurement department of his organization. Another relative of yours works as a contract manager who supports the sales and project management department of his organization. Are the contractual obligations of their respective employer different in their complexity? Explain why / why not.
Answer: Yes, they probably are (2 points). The procurement department is mostly under the obligation to affect the agreed-upon payment in time (2 points), while the sales and project management department will have to deliver goods, services (2 points), and carry out the corresponding project management (2 points).
Risk Quantification
10. Together with your colleagues, you are preparing an offer for selling your company’s product to another company. Explain what risk quantification you need to conduct, how you would conduct it, and what the corresponding process looks like; illustrate this with a product example of your choice.
Answer: Identify the risk, e.g., warranty obligation for the delivered goods; illustration, such as cars, machinery, bikes, etc. (2 points). Identify the remedy (such as repair or replacement of defective goods) (2 points), quantify its likelihood, and multiply it by the cost impact it will have (2 points). Process: Get management approval for offering this warranty obligation (2 points) and form a risk contingency when the risk is not negligible (2 points).
