free ebooks review rapidshare, megaupload |
|
|
Ebook home > business > business investing >
The Contract Scorecard : Successful Outsourcing by Design
The Contract Scorecard : Successful Outsourcing by Design Summary:By Sara Cullen
Adoption and use of a contract scorecard demonstrates a maturing ability to manage commercial outsourcing arrangements. The process of designing the scorecard helps you nail down the key outcomes and avoid lack of focus, inconsistent objectives, hidden costs, indifferent service and deteriorating relationships with your contract partners. Sara Cullen's "The Contract Scorecard" will help you design and drive successful contracts. It offers a systematic guide based on practical advice and examples; one that explains the Contract Scorecard concept and demonstrates crucial implementation activities such as: the development of performance measures that work; Sound Service Level Agreements that make obligations clear; and, a Governance Charter that ensures both parties will adopt successful management techniques. An upfront investment in your contracts, from a commercial rather than legal perspective is probably the single most influential activity you can undertake; one that will ensure your outsourcing relationships have clear business goals as the focus of the deal. Reading a copy of Sara Cullen's "The Contract Scorecard" should be the first step in that investment. Summary: Directly relevant content Rating: 5 What is unique about this book on outsourcing (and let's face it, there are a lot), is that it explains why so many organizations have gotten into trouble in their outsourcing deals with some great stories and the explains how to do it right. I compared the KPIs in this book to what we have in our contracts and had so many "doh!" moments my head hurt. Summary: No-nonsenseRating: 5 It's an old cabinet makers' adage to measure twice and cut once; that way you get the right length of timber every time. Well, from what I've seen of this book, the Contract Scorecard is a no-nonsense, step-by-step guide, showing you how to measure outsourcing results, so you get what you really want out of outsourcing. The author, Sara Cullen, has compiled the wisdom she's distilled from working with over a hundred different organizations around the world. So unlike a lot of academics who write about outsourcing theory in an abstract way, she has the practical experience to back up her ideas. The book is written for people at the coal-face of outsourcing, and not those who just talk about it. The case studies are particularly helpful, because they clearly illustrate the advantages to be gained from "careful measurement", and what disasters await those too eager to start "cutting that plank up". British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Cullen, Sara The contract scorecard : successful outsourcing by design 1. Contracting out I. Title 658.4'058 ISBN-13: 978-0-566-08793-6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cullen, Sara. The contract scorecard : successful outsourcing by design / by Sara Cullen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-566-08793-6 1. Contracting out. 2. Contracting out--Evaluation. I. Title. HD2365.C85 2009 658.4'058--dc22 2008040985Contents List of Figures ix List of Tables xiii Foreword xv Preface xvii 1 Introduction 1 About this Chapter 1 Purpose of the Contract Scorecard 1 Research Base 2 Roots of the Concept 3 Structure of this Book 5 2 The Quadrants of the Contract Scorecard 7 About this Chapter 7 Quality Quadrant 9 Financial Quadrant 21 Relationship Quadrant 29 Strategic Quadrant 37 3 The Steps in Developing KPIs 47 About this Chapter 47 Step 1: Allocate Party Responsibilities – Identify Who is Acountable for What 48 Step 2: Conduct Stakeholder Assessment – Distinguish Who Cares about What 50 Step 3: List KPIs – Get the Big Picture 53 Step 4: Set KPI Thresholds – Pinpoint the ‘Care’ Points 54 Step 5: Generate Calculation Method – Specify the Maths 56 Step 6: Prototype Reports – Design the Publication 58 Step 7: Conduct Testing – Make Sure it will Work 60 Other Issues to Consider 61 4 Schemes for the Consequences of KPI Performance 65 About this Chapter 65 Exploring the Basis for KPI Schemes – Recourse versus Rewards 65 Timing 70 Chapter Appendices 80 5 Planning the Contract Scorecard 85 About this Chapter 85 Adoption – Choosing the Quadrants Appropriate for Each Deal 86 Preparing the Scorecard Blueprint 89 Timing in the Contract Lifecycle 96 Critical Timing to Manage Bargaining Power and the Total Cost of Contract 105 6 The Quality Specification – The Service Level Agreement (SLA) 111 About this Chapter and SLAs in General 111 Section 1: About this SLA 113 Section 2: Scope Overview 115 Section 3: Work Specification 117 Section 4: Reporting Specification 121 Section 5: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 121 Section 6: Effect of KPI Performance 123 Appendix: Example SLA 124 7 The Financial Specification – The Financial Schedule 147 About this Chapter and the Financial Schedule in General 147 Section 1: About this Financial Schedule 148 Section 2: Costs 149 Section 3: Reimbursables (Optional) 150 Section 4: Invoicing 151 Section 5: Payment 152 Section 6: Charges 154 Section 7: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 169 Section 8: Benchmarking (Optional) 169 Appendix: Example Financial Schedule 174 8 The Relationship Specification – The Governance Charter 179 About this Chapter and the Governance Charter in General 179 Section 1: About this Governance Charter 182 Section 2: Governance Structure 182 Section 3: Relationship Values Charter (or Code of Conduct) 185 Section 4: Meetings 187 Section 5: Reviews, Evaluations and Audits 192 Section 6: Issue Management 198 Section 7: Variation Management 200 Section 8: Dispute Management 203 Appendix: Example Governance Charter 209 9 The Strategic Specification – Unique Contract Schedules 223 About this Chapter and Strategic Schedules in General 223 Example Innovation Specification 224 Example Contribution Specification 225 Example Underlying Work Practices Specification 227 Example Alignment with Corporate Initiatives Specification 229 10 Conclusion 237 References 239 Index 241 About the Author 245Preface This book will help you design and drive successful contracts. Different people have diverse beliefs as to what successful contracts are. Some would consider a contract successful if it did not end up in court. Others believe it to be successful if they did not need to manage the contractor too much. In this book, success means that the people in your organization got the results they were seeking – not that failure was avoided. This book is more than a ‘feel good’ management book; it is a systematic guide to success full of practical advice and examples using the concept of a Contract Scorecard. Not only is the Contract Scorecard concept explained, but also the crucial implementation activities such as the development of performance measures that work in practice, sound Service Level Agreements that make obligations clear and effective, and a Governance Charter that ensures both parties will adopt successful management techniques. There are a number of case examples presented throughout this book, highlighting what can happen when long-term success is not kept in mind when designing and managing contracts. Some of the cases might astound you, as I have been continuously astounded throughout the decades I’ve been practising. These were all smart folks, but just did not have an in-depth understanding of the ramifications of what they were doing at the time. As these cases will demonstrate, it is too easy for us all to lose track of why we are doing things in our rush to get things done – particularly contracts! You will need to make an upfront investment into design and manage successful contracts – something many organizations do not do. Even a minor investment in the better design of a contract’s success will yield a superior return on that investment. As so many clients have told me, the number one thing they would do differently in all their contracts is to design them better – not from a legal perspective, but from the business perspective. This book is all about making the business goals the focus of a deal and making sure your desired outcomes happen. Sara Cullen NEWER EBOOKS
Sponsored LinksThe Contract Scorecard : Successful Outsourcing by Design Keywordscontracts sara cullen charter governance financial management performance kpis investment schedule concept quadrant service kpi manage organizations perspective contract scorecard successful outsourcing scorecard successful outsourcing relationships business goals outsourcing deals influential activity relevant content upfront investment successful management contract scorecard successful scorecard successful outsourcing |
|
Architecture
Audiobooks
Business
