Supplier Management — A 3 day course

Synopsis

Organisations have always depended on suppliers for their operations but in the 21st Century, and particularly with the development of outsourcing, the range and complexity of customer/supplier relationships has increased.

In addition, the responsibility for managing suppliers may fall upon the business area managers but, particularly in the case of outsourced software development and IT services, this responsibility is allocated to other roles such as business analysts or project managers.

This course provides a framework for understanding the issues associated with managing suppliers using a blend of soft and tangible techniques.

Introduction to supplier management

Levels of supplier relationship (strategic, business and operational)
Lifecycle of a supplier relationship
Supplier relationship management introduced
Managing risk in supplier management
Stakeholder identification

Defining business requirements

The importance of requirements
Types of requirements - business, system and performance
Qualities of 'good' requirements
The 'requirements document'
Cataloguing requirements - business, system and performance
Prioritising requirements

Sourcing and selecting suppliers

The sourcing process
Researching possible suppliers
Request for Information / Pre-Qualification Questionnaire
Special rules for public sector procurements
Assessing and filtering responses
Request for Proposal / Invitation to Tender
Detailed response assessment
Non-disclosure agreements

Engaging with the supplier

Refining the requirements
The Service Level Agreement - purpose and structure
Structure of an SLA and steps in establishing the SLA
Refining and agreeing key performance indicators and deliverables

The contract

Contract types and duration
Contract terms and conditions
Contract placement and termination
Negotiation, arbitration and litigation
Variations to the contract
Acceptance
Copyright, patents and other intellectual property rights
Escrow agreements
Limitations of liability

Establishing the working relationship

The implications of culture on performance / relationships
Assessing organisations
Using emotional intelligence in customer / supplier relationships

Influencing and leading suppliers

Stages in the supplier relationship
Styles of leading and managing

Organising and managing supplier reviews

Introduction - the purpose of supplier reviews
Template for a review meeting
Presenting the results - the project dashboard
Using review for proactive risk analysis and management

Relationship and segmentation analysis

What is supplier segmentation?
Risk / Significance / Value model - how customer sees supplier
Strength / Attractiveness model - how supplier sees customer
Correlating the two perspectives
Optimising the relationship

Negotiating with suppliers

Negotiation defined
Approaches to negotiation
Negotiation planning checklist
Behaviours in reaching agreement

Managing changes to scope and requirements

The inevitability of changes
Map for change requirement discussion

Preventing supplier complacency

Changing and evolving supplier relationships
Assessing supplier attitudes and behaviour
Stages of relationship breakdown

Handling disputes and conflict

An approach to managing conflict
Escalation and dispute resolution

Closure and exit

Potential closure situations - project closure, end of long term contract, premature termination
Risk assessment for the exit stage

Learning lessons from a supplier relationship

Reviewing a project and a longer-term contract
Staging an effective review