Procurement Processes, Statement of work.

Pick two questions to answer from each of the questions below. – 600 words or less. Additional research on your part is required for this forum.

1. Why are contracts necessary when conducting procurements and what do they represent? Discuss the major types of procurement contracts. Is there any situation where you would not use a contract for procuring goods or services – please explain why or why not? Is a verbal agreement or a handshake considered a valid contract? Please include a minimum of one resource in addition to your required or optional reading/viewing resources.
2. Research an example of a bad procurement or poor procurement management in any organization (including from your experience). Describe the situation and explain why you believe this as an example of a bad procurement or poor procurement management. Be specific and remember, others are not familiar with the situation and need to understand the backstory. What made the procurement management ineffective and/or what were the factors that led to the poor outcome? Please include a minimum of one resource in addition to your required or optional reading/viewing resources.
3. Describe the different types of Fixed-price contracts and why you would use one over another. Who bears the most risk in this contract type – the ‘buyer’ or the ‘seller?’ Provide an example from your experience, from your research, or create a scenario to illustrate. Please include a minimum of two resources in addition to your required or optional reading/viewing resources.
4. Describe the different Cost-reimbursable contracts and why you would use one over another. Who bears the most risk in this contract type – the ‘buyer’ or the ‘seller?’ Provide an example from your experience, from your research, or create a scenario to illustrate. Please include a minimum of two resources in addition to your required or optional reading/viewing resources
5. Describe Time and Material contracts – please discuss any variations of these. When would you use this type of contract? Who bears the most risk in this contract type – the ‘buyer’ or the ‘seller?’ Provide an example from your experience, from your research, or create a scenario to illustrate. Please include a minimum of two resources in addition to your required or optional reading/viewing resources.
6. How do contracts create and/or mitigate (reduce) problems? Please explain and justify your response. What are some important items to consider when choosing a type of contract and are there certain provisions that should be included within the contract? As a project manager for a team who procured services from an external vendor, you experience noncompliance with delivery of these services. This is the first time you have experienced this issue, but the deadline has been missed by 2 weeks. Explain how you would handle the situation. Draw upon your experience and research to develop your response. Please include a minimum of one resource in addition to your required or optional reading/viewing resources.
7. What are some of the risks to the ‘buyer’ (client, customer) associated with the various procurement contracts? What are some of the risks to the ‘seller’ (contractor, supplier, vendor) associated with contracts to the contractor? What can you do in each role to mitigate risks before the contract is developed and signed? Please explain your response by including examples or scenarios. Please include a minimum of two resources in addition to your required or optional reading/viewing resources.
8. What goes into a “make-or-buy” analysis and when should this be conducted? Provide an example from your experience, from your research, or create a scenario to illustrate. What other “tools” are available to make this same determination in addition to a “make-or-buy” analysis? Please include a minimum of one resource in addition to your required or optional reading/viewing resources.