Overview
This Contract and Procurement Management unit will equip you with the knowledge, skills, and techniques required for acquiring external products, results, and services to meet the needs of the company and to achieve the project goals. It also offers you the opportunity to identify, apply, and develop different negotiation strategies as well as assessing and responding to the potential risks encountered during the procurement. You will study contract types, procurement standards, legal and ethical aspects of commercial contracts as well as project tendering and awarding. On successful completion of this unit, you will have the capacity to apply the appropriate practices for managing contracts, conflicts, delays, claim, and disputes.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Co- requisites: PPMP20007
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2023
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student evaluation
Learning from this unit was a good experience. Instructions, guidelines and teaching from the unit coordinator and tutor was good.
The teaching team will continue to provide outstanding academic support for the students and give them a better education and learning experience at CQU.
Feedback from Student evaluation
Very supportive and great skills to communicate.
This practice will be continued with a continuous improvement goal for more effective communication.
Feedback from Student evaluation
When it came to reviewing a submitted assessment or class task, some students believed that more attention and focus response time to emails could have been more timely.
The teaching staff, including the Unit Coordinator, will reply to students' queries and give them sufficient feedback on time in the future.
Feedback from Teaching team
There was a peer assessment practice item on Moodle. However, most of the students did not practice enough, which impacted their submissions and gradings.
The peer assessment practice session must be continued. The unit coordinator can make a video on how to do the peer assessment. The tutors can have a session or a part of a session where students will practice the peer assessment tasks in the tutorial session.
- Demonstrate an integrative understanding of the key theories and concepts underpinning buyer-contractor relationships as well as the concepts of project contracts and procurement standards
- Analyse different commercial negotiation strategies and demonstrate an ability to creatively negotiate project plans, conflicts, delays, and incentives in commercial projects
- Employ risk management planning and identification and assess the risk encountered over the procurement process
- Negotiate and analyse the principles of tendering, pricing and awarding techniques and to utilise the negotiation approaches in commercial contracts
- Evaluate and develop clear legal, financial and technical components of project contracts
- Develop a project budget and an expenditure forecast as control mechanisms and link time, cost and resources to the project framework.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 10% | ||||||
2 - Practical Assessment - 40% | ||||||
3 - Group Work - 50% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
1 - Knowledge | ||||||
2 - Communication | ||||||
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||||
4 - Research | ||||||
5 - Self-management | ||||||
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||||
7 - Leadership | ||||||
8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 10% | ||||||||
2 - Practical Assessment - 40% | ||||||||
3 - Group Work - 50% |
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- CQUniversity Library Resources
- Students are requested to join the Project Management Institute (PMI) and be a member of the PMI to download the materials.
- E-reading List
- Online databases e.g. Emerald and ScienceDirect) for journal articles
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
l.bauwmans@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to Procurement
Chapter
Topics:
- Introduction to procurement
- Value for money (VFM)
- Procurement management plan
- Procurement strategies
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 1:
- Overview of the unit
- Introduction to the procurement plan
Module/Topic
Procurement Routes - I
Chapter
Topics:
- Introduction to procurement routes
- Selection criteria for procurement routes
- Design-Bid-Build (DBB) route
- Design-Build (Integrated) route
- Management (Packaged) route
- Comparison of procurement routes
- Client types
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 2:
- Case studies and exercises
- Illustrative material and videos
- Release and discuss Assessment 1 - Part A (30%)
Module/Topic
Procurement Routes - II
Chapter
Topics:
- Collaborative procurement routes
- Multi Prime Contracting
- Design Sequencing
- Public-Private Partnerships
- Alliancing
- Joint Ventures
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 3:
- Case studies and exercises
- Illustrative material
Module/Topic
Contracts and Contracting Principles
Chapter
- Introduction to contracts and contract law
- Contracting strategies
- Fixed-price contracts
- Cost reimbursable contracts
- Change orders in contracts
- Client-contractor relationships
- Risks in contracting
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 4:
- Case studies and exercises
- Illustrative material and videos
- Discuss Assessment 1 - Part B: (10%)
- Form Assessment 3 groups
Module/Topic
Cost Estimation and Budgeting
Chapter
Topics:
- Project cost estimation
- Cost estimation methods
- Factors affecting the cost estimates
- Project budgeting
- Elements of project budget
- Developing and establishing project budget
- Evaluating project budget
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 5:
- Case studies and exercises
- Release and discuss Assessment 3 (50%)
- Finalise Assessment 3 groups.
Module/Topic
Christmas break
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Negotiations in Procurement
Chapter
Topics:
- Introduction and principles of negotiation
- Process and structure of negotiation
- Effective negotiation (BATNA and ZOPA)
- Negotiation strategies
- Conflict resolution through negotiation
- Negotiating with powerful suppliers
Events and Submissions/Topic
- Case studies and exercises
- Illustrative material and videos
Module/Topic
Risks in Procurement
Chapter
Topics:
- Main risks in procurement
- Managing procurement risks
- Risk management plan
- Identifying procurement risks
- Assessing and analysing procurement risks
- Controlling and mitigating procurement risks
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 7:
- Case studies and exercises
- Illustrative material and videos
- Assessment 1 Part A (30%) - Due Week 7 Monday
Module/Topic
Tendering, Bidding and Contract Awarding
Chapter
Topics:
- Introduction to tendering
- Tendering and bidding process
- Invitation for tenders
- Submission and opening of bids
- Technical and financial evaluation of bids
- Assessment of best-combined offer
- Contract awarding
Events and Submissions/Topic
-
Tutorial 8:
- Case studies and exercises
- Illustrative material and videos
- Assessment 2 discussion
- Assessment 1 Part B (10%) - Due Week 8 Friday
Module/Topic
Change Orders, Claims, Disputes and Resolutions
Chapter
- Change orders (variations)
- Development of change orders
- Sources of claims
- Development of claims
- Minimising claims
- Causes of disputes
- Dispute resolution methods
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 9:
- Case studies and exercises
- Illustrative material and videos
- Assessment 2 discussion
Assessment 2: Quiz due this week.
Module/Topic
Outsourcing
Chapter
Topics:
- Introduction to outsourcing
- Benefits of outsourcing
- Problems with outsourcing
- Types of outsourcing
- Supply matrix and strategies
- Risks in outsourcing
- Ethics in outsourcing
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 10
- Case studies and exercises
- Illustrative material and videos
- Assessment 3 - Q&A
Module/Topic
Ethics in Procurement
Chapter
- Ethics in procurement
- Ethical principles in procurement
- Types of unethical behaviours
- Ethical issues during procurement stages
- Ethical issues in contract management
- Spiral of ethical risks
- Detection and prevention of unethical practices
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 11
Assessment 3 Part A- Presentations start.
This tutorial session will be dedicated to the presentation (Assessment 3 Part B). Students will submit their PowerPoint slides via Assessment 3 Part B Moodle on Monday, Week 11. The presentation will be given in their respective tutorial sessions based on the agreed schedule.
Module/Topic
Emerging Trends in Procurement: Sustainable Procurement
Chapter
- Introduction to sustainable procurement
- Principles of procuring sustainability
- Concepts in sustainable development
- Benefits of sustainable procurement
- Policy context of Australian Government
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 12
Assessment 3 Part B- Presentations
The rest of the presentations will be given in their respective tutorial sessions based on the agreed schedule.
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Practical Assessment
This is an individual assignment comprising two parts:
- Part A (30%): You are required to submit a written report responding to the specific tasks; and
- Part B (10%): Represents a “peer assessment” report evaluating your peers' submission. Marks will be awarded based on the quality of your evaluation.
The assessment contains descriptions and the scope of work for a multi-component real-world case study. The case study and assessment requirements will be provided on the unit Moodle website.
Part A: You are required to submit a written report considering the followings:
- Analyse the case study and propose the most suitable procurement route(s) for the case study (sub-projects).
- A brief negotiation strategy and your reasons for choosing this approach.
- The characteristics of the client, constraints, conditions and available resources for each sub-project should be provided.
- Justify the proposed procurement route(s) for each sub-project and explain why each route is the most suitable to make the project successful.
- Propose and justify an appropriate contract type for each sub-project.
- Develop a project budget and an expenditure forecast as control mechanisms and link time, cost, and resources to the project framework.
- Your report should include a thorough analysis along with discussion and supporting evidence.
- Clarity of expression, language, format, presentation, in-text citations, and references.
Part B: The peer assessment aims to enhance your understanding and allows you to learn from this assessment by exchanging knowledge with your peers considering the followings:
- You are required to evaluate one submission by your peers which will be randomly and anonymously assigned to you.
- You will be asked to submit your evaluation report along with your constructive feedback and comments.
- You will evaluate the submission based on the assessment criteria and using the marking tool provided.
- Your evaluation will be checked and moderated to ensure the quality of the feedback and the peer assessment.
- Failing to submit the evaluation report by the deadline will lead to zero (0) marks for this part.
Assessment 1: Part A (Individual Written Report) Due: Monday Week 7 and Part B (Individual Peer Assessment Report) Due: Friday Week 8
Assessment marks will be released by the end of week 9
Your assignment will be assessed based on the extent and quality to which it meets each of the following criteria:
Assessment criteria – Part A - Written Report
Marking criteria | Weight |
1. Introduction: Defined the aims of the report and identified the project objectives and explained how the recommendations ensure Value for Money. | 5 |
2. Procurement and negotiation strategy: Appropriate mapping of the factors and characteristics of the project with the factors to be considered for the best procurement strategy and how it will be negotiated. | 10 |
3. Procurement routes: Proposed procurement route for each sub-project is appropriate, and the explanations are suitable to make the project successful. | 25 |
4. Contract types: Proposed contract type for each sub-project is appropriate, and the explanation is suitable to make the project successful. | 25 |
5. Contract type justification: Conditions impacting the selection of the proposed contract types for each sub-project are appropriately justified for both the owner and the contractor. | 10 |
6. Budget: Appropriate budgetary estimate for any one of the sub-projects by listing main expense heads including assumptions. | 10 |
7. Conclusion: Appropriate summary of the report and main findings. | 5 |
8. Clarity of expression, language, format, presentation, in-text citations, and references. | 10 |
Total marks (Scaled to 30%) | 100 |
Assessment criteria – Part B - Peer Assessment (Evaluation)
Marking criteria | Weight |
Discussion about recommended procurement strategy for each sub-project | 10 |
Selection of the most suitable procurement route for each sub-project and provide thorough discussion based on the conditions provided in the case study. | 20 |
Selection of the most suitable contract type for each sub-project and provide thorough discussion based on the conditions provided in the case study. | 20 |
Discussions around appropriate budget estimates | 20 |
Discussions around the likes (and dislikes) of the report | 15 |
Discussions around areas of improvement for the report | 15 |
Total marks (Scaled to 10%) | 100 |
- Demonstrate an integrative understanding of the key theories and concepts underpinning buyer-contractor relationships as well as the concepts of project contracts and procurement standards
- Analyse different commercial negotiation strategies and demonstrate an ability to creatively negotiate project plans, conflicts, delays, and incentives in commercial projects
- Evaluate and develop clear legal, financial and technical components of project contracts
- Develop a project budget and an expenditure forecast as control mechanisms and link time, cost and resources to the project framework.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
2 Online Quiz(zes)
The primary purpose of this assessment item is to help you identify the risks and commercial negotiation strategies associated with contract and procurement management. The secondary purpose of this assessment is to give you the opportunity to enhance your analysis and critical thinking skills.
- The quiz will be held in class during the week 9 tutorials.
- The quiz will consist of 30 questions.
- After an introduction, you will have forty (40) minutes to complete the quiz.
- Only ONE (1) attempt is allowed.
1
Exam Week Monday (16 Oct 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
The quiz must be completed within its allocated time frame
Marks will be released after online quiz has been closed.
- The online quiz will consist of multiple-choice questions which will be randomly selected from a pool of questions from the related topics.
- The online quiz will cover the content from the lectures, tutorials, and recommended reading material.
- The online quiz will be marked by the Moodle computer program upon submission.
- Analyse different commercial negotiation strategies and demonstrate an ability to creatively negotiate project plans, conflicts, delays, and incentives in commercial projects
- Employ risk management planning and identification and assess the risk encountered over the procurement process
- Negotiate and analyse the principles of tendering, pricing and awarding techniques and to utilise the negotiation approaches in commercial contracts
- Knowledge
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
3 Group Work
This is a group assignment comprising two parts:
- Part A (35%): You are required to submit a critical analysis report responding to the specific tasks about a real-life case study.
- Part B (15%): You are also required to give an individual presentation on your critical analysis report.
Groups will be randomly formed by the unit coordinator and each group will contain 3-4 members. A randomly formed group is part of this assessment to work in a new team and develop interpersonal and communication skills. The assessment will contain a real-life case study (project) along with the description and scope of the work involved. The assessment specifications and information about the case study will be provided on the unit Moodle website.
Part A (35%): Critical Analysis Report (Group Submission):
You need to investigate and critically analyse a real-life case study by applying the knowledge gained throughout the term. The layout of the critical analysis report will be provided as part of assessment documents. The tasks each group will undertake are:
- Understanding and analysis of the case study and applying the concepts of contract and procurement strategies.
- Mapping the factors and characteristics of the case study with the factors to be considered for the best procurement strategy.
- Analysis and evaluation of the procurement routes which include a detailed description of why specific routes were selected.
- Analysis and evaluation of the contract types which include a detailed description of why specific contract types were selected.
- Identification, analysis, assessment, and mitigation of the risks associated with the case study.
- Analysis of the tendering process, the pricing, and the negotiation approaches used.
- Evaluation of legal, financial, and technical components of project contracts.
- Understanding of the application of ethics in procurement relevant to the case study.
- Clarity of expression, language, format, presentation, in-text citations, and references.
Important notes:
- The report should contain around 4000 words +- 5% (excluding title page and references).
- Marks will be deducted for the reports exceeding the word limit by more than 5%.
- You need to discuss your progress every week with your tutor.
- Only one member of the group will submit the critical analysis report.
- Group members will be awarded the same marks for the critical analysis report.
Part B (15%): Presentation (Individual)
Once your critical analysis report is near completion, as a team, you will need to prepare a presentation on key aspects of your critical analysis report. The presentation will give each individual team member a chance to reflect on his/her acquired knowledge and experiences throughout the teamwork and studying the unit while practicing your good presentation and communication skills. All team members must attend and present an equal portion of work.
- Presentations will be held during the Week 12 tutorial.
- The presentation should cover all aspects of the report in no more than 15 slides.
- Too early and late finishes of the presentation result in reduced marks.
- Presentations will be graded based on individual performance during the presentation.
- The duration of the presentation must be between 14-16 minutes followed by 5 minutes of questions and answers.
- If a student is absent at the presentation, he/she will be marked zero (0/15) for the presentation although he/she has submitted the PowerPoint slides.
Assessment 2 Part A (written report) will be due on Friday, Week 12. Assessment 2 Part B (Presentation) will be started from Week 11 tutorial sessions.
Assignment marks will be released on the day of confirmation of grades
The report will be assessed based on the quality of the work presented, the details, and the coherent analysis with the proper justifications of the proposed procurement routes, contract types, and the associated risks. Your submission should extend beyond the unit material and you are Requested to use available online resources and any additional relevant information. The report will be assessed according to the following criteria:
Part A (35%): Critical Analysis Report
Marking criteria | Weight |
Appropriate analysis of the case study while applying the concepts of contract and procurement strategies | 10 |
Appropriate analysis and selection of procurement route and contract type | 25 |
Critical analysis of the project risks and reasons for poor management of them | 15 |
Critical analysis of the disputes and negotiation strategies associated with the project | 15 |
Provision of appropriate recommendations for procurement contract and negotiation of project termination. | 20 |
Conclusion and summary of the report | 5 |
Clarity of expression, language, format, presentation, in-text citations, and references. | 10 |
Total marks (Scaled to 35%) | 100 |
Part B (15%): Oral presentation (Individual)
Marking criteria | Weight |
Preparation and consistency of presentation slides (quality, flow, readability, use of bullet points, graphics, in-text citations, and a reference list) | 20 |
Understanding and relevance of the presentation content | 40 |
Response to questions during Q/A | 20 |
Presentation manners (professionalism, pace, eye contact, etc.) | 10 |
Presentation timing including Q/A | 10 |
Total marks (Scaled to 15%) | 100 |
- Demonstrate an integrative understanding of the key theories and concepts underpinning buyer-contractor relationships as well as the concepts of project contracts and procurement standards
- Employ risk management planning and identification and assess the risk encountered over the procurement process
- Negotiate and analyse the principles of tendering, pricing and awarding techniques and to utilise the negotiation approaches in commercial contracts
- Evaluate and develop clear legal, financial and technical components of project contracts
- Develop a project budget and an expenditure forecast as control mechanisms and link time, cost and resources to the project framework.
- Knowledge
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.