Contract Management articles from December 2004

Contract Management archives from December 2004

The NCMA way.(LEADERSHIP FORUM)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... As a volunteer organization, NCMA draws from the best that our profession has to offer. This is evident at every level, from the national officers to the chapter volunteers. Having such access, however, does not guarantee that we have...

CM support and best value.(READER RESPONSE CORNER)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... The October issue was great! I especially enjoyed the articles by Rick Kelemen on being a business advisor and by Ron Davino/Karla Tipton on incorporating small business concerns into the consolidated J-Tech contract. Both articles reflect a...

The "right thing".(READER RESPONSE CORNER)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... I'm writing to let you know how much I appreciated the article, "Good Ethics Is Good Business," which was printed in the April 2004 issue of CM. It was very well written and timely reminder of the importance of "doing the right thing." In my...

Manager vs. leader?(READER RESPONSE CORNER)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Once more we are trying to assign a new/revised label to an old, tried and true paradigm. In the article, "Management by Persuasion," in the August 2004 issue of CM, the author redefines leadership as management by persuasion. Management...

Do you have what it takes--to be a great manager?(PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT)
December 1, 2004... Do you think management is a cushy job? After all, once you have "arrived" into the portals of leadership you can kick back and let others do the work--right? Think again! In fact, a whopping four out of 10 newly promoted managers and...

Effective outsourcing governance key elements often overlooked: by including relationship management, change management, and joint planning as responsibilities of a governance organization, you can help client companies substantially decrease the risks of outsourcing.(Cover Story)
December 1, 2004... Recent research has shown that business process outsourcing (BPO) relationships that have effective governance organizations deliver more value than those that do not. BPO governance organizations, however, can vary dramatically in both size...

The "forgotten customers": as you consider the contract for your next program, be sure to cover your internal customers during planning and implementation. Do you know what it takes to manage the "people" piece of the program?
December 1, 2004... Howard Jones was sitting at his desk, thinking about the recent implementation of his agency's IT project. As project manager, he was proud of his accomplishments. He had received many accolades for his IT insights and project management...

The high performance sales culture: a high performance sales culture will continually reaffirm the potential of your business with higher levels of customer satisfaction, increased productivity, integrated work environments, and more profitable enterprises.
December 1, 2004... The world's most productive sales organizations--those that sustain successful business relationships with their customers--all share one thing in common: they all have high-performance sales cultures (HPSCs). There are four elements of an HPSC...

Contracts: your CRM roadmap: by being able to easily create, access, and analyze contracts, companies gain a valuable opportunity to make doing business easy for customers and a roadmap to stay on-course in a successful and profitable relationship.
December 1, 2004... What do your contracts have to do with customer relationship management (CRM)? Everything. Each customer relationship starts with your contract, and that contract spells out exactly what you want from each other. Yet, all too often, the...

The new (and improved) Article 2 to the UCC: finally, the new and improved Article 2 to the UCC is here! It will be appearing before your state legislature for its consideration and, when adopted, will be the new commercial law for your state.(Uniform Commercial Code)
December 1, 2004... In case you have not yet heard, a new--albeit amended--Article 2 (Sales) to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) may be coming real soon to your state. Recently, after a lengthy process, certain amendments to Article 2 were adopted by its...

The world we live in--contract negotiation skills gap; our buying and selling business professionals, in both the public and private business sectors, must increase their focus and attention on contract negotiation skills.
December 1, 2004... The world we live in is a world of constant change with increasingly demanding customers in both the public and private business sectors. The world we live in is a world of tremendous technology, which allows for rapid voice, data, and video...

Department of Homeland Security contracting--2004 year in review; this article examines four of 2004 DHS major procurement initiatives--financial accountability, privatization of TSA activities, acquisition of IT systems, and remedies for deficiencies within grant programs.(Transportation Security Administration)
December 1, 2004... Just as 2002 marked the birth of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with the enactment of the Homeland Security Act (Pub. L. No. 107-296) and 2003 marked the development of DHS with the issuance of the Homeland Security Acquisition...

Knowing where your project and costs are: Relevant Business System's Enterprise Resource Planning software.(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)(product/service evaluation)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 1, 2004... This product was reviewed in October 2004. Having a solid grasp on your projects and costs in today's complex organizations is a challenging task. There are many available tools (e.g., work breakdown structure and earned value) to enable...

Contractor team arrangements going the extra mile.(GSA CASE STUDY)(general services administration)
December 1, 2004... GSA offers many options for doing business with the federal government. One item we always strive to meet is best value--best value for the vendors, customers, contractors, and the American taxpayer. Some of the vehicles GSA offers are...

Final edition December 2004.
December 1, 2004... Legislation President Bush Signs National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2005 On October 28, 2004, President Bush signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2005. This legislation is generally intended to authorize...

Thoughts on leadership.(NCMA ASSOCIATION NEWS)
December 1, 2004... What is it that makes some people leaders--those rarest of individuals, both good and bad, who for millennia have been at the forefront of how we live and go about our business? Remember, even the most infamous of leaders were responding to an...

Paying for certifications.(NCMA ASSOCIATION NEWS)(National Contract Management Association)
December 1, 2004... Here is a question that many of us seriously consider, when wanting to advance our careers: "How can I afford to earn a certification?" It can cost hundreds of dollars--not easy to fit into the personal budget and finance scheme. What good...

Erratum.(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2004... CM regrets printing John Sarakatsannis's title incorrectly in the October 2004 issue's article on the board's approval of two new Fellows, where Sarakatsannis was listed as a major. He retired from the U.S. Air Force four years ago as...

NCMA's 2004-2005 educational conference calendar.(National Contract Management Association)(Calendar)
December 1, 2004... Attendance at NCMA's conferences offer you: * ways to stay in touch with contemporary issues, * exposure to best practice models, * opportunities for networking with those in the same field, * career growth programs, and *...

Chapter bulletin board.(NCMA ASSOCIATION NEWS)(National Contract Management Association)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... ANTELOPE VALLEY CHAPTER Warren Walch, Defense Contract Audit Agency, financial liaison advisor at AFFTC/AE, for Edwards AFB, CA, and the Navy China Lake facility, gave a talk on "Auditing in Iraq." Here, Chapter President Marvell D. Lavy,...