This assignment is focused on proposal evaluation and contract negotiation You will work individually and address various topics, questions, and scenarios You will need to use the readings videos, learning modules, and additional research as sources of information For this assignment, please respond to all items listed below and submit your response via the Assignment 5 2 title You will have the option of embedding your assignment into the Blackboard system or you may attach a separate MS Word file After closely reviewing the five (real world) scenarios and related questions listed below Select two and submit your responses by clicking on the Assignment 5 2 Your company sent out an RFP for service and software to migrate your archived documents, files, and data to a cloud based system The deadline was yesterday at close of business and you only received two proposals After quickly reviewing the submissions, your review team determines that both are at least 30 higher in price than your budget and neither includes a key requirement Discuss what you think might be the problems or issues in this situation with the procurement process Address the items listed below based upon the information you have been given here For you to assess this scenario you must think critically based upon your knowledge, perspective, and experience What are some potential reasons that only two vendors replied to your RFP How could you improve responses to RFPs in the future What can a 'buyer' do early in the procurement process to assist with answering questions or clarifying any issues that potential sellers may have What might be some issues with the format, structure, wording, or content of your RFP document that may have resulted in a key component not being addressed in either proposal Do you think you should have listed your maximum budget in the RFP so you could get better bids that are closer to what you can spend Would you automatically discount both proposals because they are over your budget by at least 30 If so, how would you proceed to get the services you need If not, what would, or could you do at this point to move ahead in the process considering the two submitted proposals 2)You work for a small, family owned construction company in a large metropolitan area Your company has been in business for more than 25 years and has a stellar reputation because you pay attention to the customer's needs, believe in high quality products, and guarantee satisfaction However, you are not as well known as several large, corporate companies that tend to dominate the market This makes it hard to get construction work from some of the area's corporate giants who seem to be expanding considerably lately such as Nebraska Prairieland Dairy, Sandhills Railroad Services, and ACME Health Services You submit proposals in response to RFPs sent out by these organizations, but your company has never even made the top three What can your company do to improve your chances of getting some of this work 3) Your text, Successful Project Management (by Gido and Clements), has an example of a proposal scoring sheet (Figure 3 2, p 85 in 7th edition) Answer the following regarding this scorecard As the seller of environmental services, your firm was just chosen out of 6 proposals as the best bid by a local governmental agency to install 20 miles of hiker biker trails along the Platte River in eastern Nebraska Your firm was scored using a variety of criteria and although you were $10,000 higher than the number two firm, your firm scored higher on many other criteria including approach, schedule, innovation, and experience developing trails You also had excellent references from past clients You know through the grapevine that your firm only beat out the number two firm by 5 points and the number three firm by 8 points on the scorecard very small margins This is the first time you have worked with this local governmental agency and rumor has it that they are very particular with contract terms Please discuss the elements of this scoring sheet and whether YOU think these categories make sense and are useful in helping to evaluate a proposal In general, is there anything that you would add if you were developing your own scoring sheet Explain how weighting criteria is used in scoring sheets and what it does Looking back at the scoring sheet in your book, would you give a different weight to any of the criteria listed i e do you think something such as schedule or cost should be weighted higher by default Would the type of project or constraints have any bearing on the criteria you choose, or the weighting used for a proposal evaluation scorecard What does it mean to pre screen proposals and how would you do this Are there other ways you can find or think of to evaluate proposals besides the scorecard method 4)At the contract negotiation meeting, you, your CEO, and your legal counsel are meeting with representatives of the government agency including their legal counsel Reading through the contract that has been drafted, you see on p 7 that you are not allowed to subcontract any of the work out for the project Your firm does not have anyone on staff qualified to do dirt work nor the equipment, so you had planned to subcontract this work out This restriction was never brought up in the preliminary meetings nor at the bidder's conference that was held You also see that on p 10 payment will not be made in increments but rather all at once after completion of the work following final approval You anticipated that payment would be made in increments as is typical on most of your projects This makes it very difficult since you operate on tight margins and need to make payroll payments every two weeks This project is expected to take 4 months How would you discuss your concerns with the buyer and negotiate more favorable terms knowing that you barely won the contract and there are several other well qualified bidders What type of negotiation tactics could you use and how much would you try to push to get the contract terms changed to allow for subcontracting of work and incremental payments What if after you were awarded the contract, the buyer asked if you could trim off around $7,000 10,000 to come into line with the other proposals that also are very good proposals according to the buyer Would you agree to this or would you fight to keep your bid estimate What if the price reduction was a deal breaker and you had to come up with a way to trim costs What could you do to reduce your bid cost and negotiate favorable terms elsewhere in the project 5) When it comes to business deals and contracts, it is advisable and advantageous to develop a contract dispute resolution process BEFORE you sign a contract with a seller What are the advantages to having such a process or procedure established right up front BEFORE you enter into a contract Describe how you would structure a contract dispute resolution process Would you jump right into litigation or would you gravitate first to discussion, negotiation, and or mediation Would disputes be handled via committee or by a designated individual Would the process be internal or external involving people such as attorneys or mediators

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This assignment is focused on proposal evaluation and contract negotiation. You will work individually and address various topics, questions, and scenarios. You will need to

This assignment is focused on proposal evaluation and contract negotiation. You will work individually and address various topics, questions, and scenarios. You will need to use the readings/videos, learning modules, and additional research as sources of information. For this assignment, please respond to all items listed below and submit your response via the Assignment 5.2 title. You will have the option of embedding your assignment into the Blackboard system or you may attach a separate MS Word file.

After closely reviewing the five (real world) scenarios and related questions listed below. Select two and submit your responses by clicking on the Assignment 5.2

Your company sent out an RFP for service and software to migrate your archived documents, files, and data to a "cloud-based" system. The deadline was yesterday at close of business and you only received two proposals. After quickly reviewing the submissions, your review team determines that both are at least 30% higher in price than your budget and neither includes a key requirement. Discuss what you think might be the problems or issues in this situation with the procurement process. Address the items listed below based upon the information you have been given here. For you to assess this scenario you must think critically based upon your knowledge, perspective, and experience.
- What are some potential reasons that only two vendors replied to your RFP? How could you improve responses to RFPs in the future?
- What can a 'buyer' do early in the procurement process to assist with answering questions or clarifying any issues that potential sellers may have?
- What might be some issues with the format, structure, wording, or content of your RFP document that may have resulted in a key component not being addressed in either proposal?
- Do you think you should have listed your maximum budget in the RFP so you could get better bids that are closer to what you can spend?
- Would you automatically discount both proposals because they are over your budget by at least 30%? If so, how would you proceed to get the services you need? If not, what would, or could you do at this point to move ahead in the process considering the two submitted proposals
- 2)You work for a small, family-owned construction company in a large metropolitan area. Your company has been in business for more than 25 years and has a stellar reputation because you pay attention to the customer's needs, believe in high quality products, and guarantee satisfaction. However, you are not as well-known as several large, corporate companies that tend to dominate the market. This makes it hard to get construction work from some of the area's corporate giants who seem to be expanding considerably lately such as Nebraska Prairieland Dairy, Sandhills Railroad Services, and ACME Health Services. You submit proposals in response to RFPs sent out by these organizations, but your company has never even made the top three. What can your company do to improve your chances of getting some of this work?
- 3) Your text, Successful Project Management (by Gido and Clements), has an example of a proposal scoring sheet (Figure 3.2, p. 85 in 7th edition). Answer the following regarding this scorecard: As the seller of environmental services, your firm was just chosen out of 6 proposals as the "best bid" by a local governmental agency to install 20 miles of hiker/biker trails along the Platte River in eastern Nebraska. Your firm was scored using a variety of criteria and although you were $10,000 higher than the number two firm, your firm scored higher on many other criteria including approach, schedule, innovation, and experience developing trails. You also had excellent references from past clients. You know through the grapevine that your firm only beat out the number two firm by 5 points and the number three firm by 8 points on the scorecard - - very small margins. This is the first time you have worked with this local governmental agency and rumor has it that they are very particular with contract terms.
  - Please discuss the elements of this scoring sheet and whether YOU think these categories make sense and are useful in helping to evaluate a proposal.
  - In general, is there anything that you would add if you were developing your own scoring sheet?
  - Explain how "weighting" criteria is used in scoring sheets and what it does.
  - Looking back at the scoring sheet in your book, would you give a different weight to any of the criteria listed - - i.e. do you think something such as schedule or cost should be weighted higher by default?
  - Would the type of project or constraints have any bearing on the criteria you choose, or the weighting used for a proposal evaluation scorecard?
  - What does it mean to pre-screen proposals and how would you do this?
  - Are there other ways you can find or think of to evaluate proposals besides the scorecard method?
  - 4)At the contract negotiation meeting, you, your CEO, and your legal counsel are meeting with representatives of the government agency including their legal counsel. Reading through the contract that has been drafted, you see on p. 7 that you are not allowed to subcontract any of the work out for the project. Your firm does not have anyone on staff qualified to do dirt work nor the equipment, so you had planned to subcontract this work out. This restriction was never brought up in the preliminary meetings nor at the bidder's conference that was held. You also see that on p. 10 payment will not be made in increments but rather all at once after completion of the work following final approval. You anticipated that payment would be made in increments as is typical on most of your projects. This makes it very difficult since you operate on tight margins and need to make payroll payments every two weeks. This project is expected to take 4 months. How would you discuss your concerns with the "buyer" and negotiate more favorable terms knowing that you barely won the contract and there are several other well-qualified bidders? What type of negotiation tactics could you use and how much would you try to push to get the contract terms changed to allow for subcontracting of work and incremental payments? What if after you were awarded the contract, the buyer asked if you could "trim off" around $7,000-10,000 to come into line with the other proposals that also are "very good proposals" according to the buyer? Would you agree to this or would you fight to keep your bid estimate? What if the price reduction was a deal breaker and you had to come up with a way to trim costs? What could you do to reduce your bid cost and negotiate favorable terms elsewhere in the project?
  - 5) When it comes to business deals and contracts, it is advisable and advantageous to develop a contract dispute resolution process BEFORE you sign a contract with a seller. What are the advantages to having such a process or procedure established right up front BEFORE you enter into a contract? Describe how you would structure a contract dispute resolution process. Would you jump right into litigation or would you gravitate first to discussion, negotiation, and/or mediation? Would disputes be handled via committee or by a designated individual? Would the process be internal or external involving people such as attorneys or mediators?