Commonwealth Approach to Market – Consultancy Services

Project Analysis: Commonwealth Approach to Market – Consultancy Services

Student’s Name

Institution

Project Analysis: Commonwealth Approach to Market – Consultancy Services

Identify And Summarize The Requirements Of The Project.

The project is based on the Commonwealth Approach to Market (ATM) which under the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) that is interested in receiving tenders from suppliers who offers consultancy services. For their applications to be successful, the suppliers need to comply with the requirements that have been laid out in the Commonwealth Approach to Market Terms. The closing date for the project was stated as 24 July 2015 at 5.00pm Canberra local time. It was expected to commence on 17 August 2015 and end on 7 March 2016 without an allowance for an extension (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2015). A gap was noted in the DPS system, and several fixtures and requirements are needed in the Australia Parliamentary House (APH). This is because the buildings continue to age, and the management of heritage values was challenging at the APH. A Business Information Modeling system (BIM) was considered to be the best solution that could help to understand and manage any missing information or data concerning the building that could be found in the information record. By doing this, the BIM can give advice on the appropriate measures that can be adopted to conserve the heritage values at the APH. 

The consultant is expected to formulate a BIM strategy for the APH, which is an architectural icon that is recognized internationally. The BIM strategy is expected to analyze the current building systems management systems, give options and recommendations as well as implement a BIM at the APH. The consultant is also expected to give a strategic guidance on the implementation of the BIM system by providing an implementation plan. In addition to these, they are supposed to set clearly the cost of adopting the BIM system by giving a cost-benefit analysis that includes a risk assessment. The cost-benefit analysis should include the cost that will be incurred while purchasing the software and hardware, training people on how to use it and other variables. The consultants will finally be required to provide BIM selection criteria matrix that will be based on the key findings of the BIM strategy. The matrix will be used by the DPS to assess potential respondents when a tender process arises. 

Identify And Describe Key Primary And Secondary Stakeholders Of The Project.

A project can have an impact on different stakeholders that can either primary or secondary. The primary stakeholders are affected directly by the project while the secondary stakeholders are affected indirectly. The primary stakeholders are active in implementing a project and may involve an organization or a few groups of people. The secondary stakeholders, on the other hand, benefit from the final implementation of the project. They may not be aware of the project before it was completed and only see the end result. In this case, the Consultants and DPS are the primary stakeholders as they are actively involved in the implementation of the BIM strategy (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2015). The DPS request for people that consider themselves competent enough to offer consultancy services submit their applications and ensure that they meet the required standards. After doing this, the DPS selects the best consultant that matches their needs and hires them to help them develop the BIM strategy for a specific duration. The secondary stakeholders will be the people that benefit from the BIM strategy that will be implemented. This may include the citizens of the country as well as the people that will benefit from the improved strategy. 

A stakeholder matrix can be defined as a matrix that shows the position of stakeholders based on their interest or interest in the project. The matrix is usually divided into four quadrants. Each of the quadrants shows the influence that one sector has over another. 

Based On The Stakeholders Identified Above, Construct A Stakeholder Matrix. Also Justify Why Stakeholders Are Placed In A Certain Quadrant.

The stakeholder matrix below indicates the stakeholders that have the highest influence and interest in the project. The DPS has the highest interest in this project as it aims at improving the operations at the APH. Before enlisting the services of the consultants, it is clear that the DPS noticed a gap that needed to be filled. It evaluated the people that can fill the gap and settled on consultants that can offer BIM strategies. The implementation of the BIM strategies would help to ensure that operations run in a fast and efficient manner at the DPS. It would also help in the proper storage, organization, and communication of information. This would be beneficial to the DPS as it would help to save time and the employees would manage to complete their tasks in an efficient manner. It would also help to identify other areas in the DPS that need improvement and ensure that the consultants deal with them (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2015). While improving a certain system in an organization or department, it is necessary to ensure that all the systems are also improved. Failure to do this will cause the organization to still lag behind as the systems do not work in harmony (Mattisson & Thomasson, 2007). Identifying all the systems that will improve the performance is necessary as it will also ensure that time is saved when they are being improved as the consultants will be aware of what they need to do instead of making assumptions.  

The consultants are also highly interested in the project as it means more money for them and a good portfolio for their companies. One of the places considered difficult to have an application approved is said to be government agencies and companies that secure a deal with them are considered to be highly successful (Mattisson & Thomasson, 2007). Getting a deal with the DPS, in this case, would mean that the consultant is stable and successful and would improve its rating making it easy to secure more deals. It would also be beneficial to them financially as the DPS is one of the best paying facilities in terms of tenders. 

The employees at the DPS have little interest in the project as they are used to a certain method of doing their activities. Although they may have noticed that it needed to be improved, they are not involved in making the changes and leave it up to the management to accomplish that (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2015). Once the project is completed, however, they will benefit as they will find it easier to accomplish their tasks efficiently. They are not on which consultant is selected to create the BIM strategy and do not know the procedure that they were selected. They are also not aware of the cost of the entire project and the time it is expected to commence or end. Their only concern is their work at the DPS and the remuneration they get at the end of the month. They believe that the effectiveness of the systems they should is entirely the duty of the management. 

The citizens of Australia are not concerned or interested in the project. Their interest is in receiving quality services when they visit the DPS. In this case, they do not know whether a system needs to be improved or changed. It may concern them that a system runs inefficiently when they visit the offices, but they do not consider the solutions that can be provided to end the problem. They will benefit from the improved system and will not bother to understand how the improvement was made.

Low Interest High

High B A

Influence

D C

Evaluate And Select The Most Appropriate Project Procurement/Delivery System For The Project. You Must Provide A Sound Justification For The System Selected Based On The Theory Learnt.

In project procurement, the implementation of the BIM strategy is based on several phases.  The first phase is the securing of quotations from different consultants. The consultants are expected to follow certain laid out rules that will guide the DPS to select the best that they think can perform the task at hand. After the DPS receives applications from the consultants, it selects the one with the best skills and ability to complete the project efficiently. It is important to note that the selection process takes a long time because of the numerous applications that are received when such opportunities are announced. To avoid failure of the project, the DPS analyzes each consultant independently based on their experience, year of operation, and the number of successful projects it has completed. Consultants that have completed similar projects may be at an advantage as they understand the impact that the project will have once it is completed. The applications will also be selected based on whether or not the consultants adhered to the terms stipulated by the DPS. Consultants that failed to meet the terms may lose the opportunity to engage in the project as it shows that they are not competent enough to handle it if they are given the opportunity. After the completion of the selection process, communication is made to the successful consultant after intense debate. Once communication is made, the consultant is expected to start and end the project on the stipulated date. The DPS, in this case, expects an exceptional job that is devoid of faults. Using this system of procurement is beneficial to the DPS because it helps it to hire the best consultant that will accomplish the desired goals (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2015). Although it may take time and cost consuming, it is necessary as it ensures there are no loopholes that will cause the wrong consultant to be hired for the project. A proper analysis of the applications ensures that the consultants are vetted based on what they present to the DPS. A consultant with an impressive portfolio and good performance records is most likely to be hired as compared to one that has only worked on a few projects. When hiring a consultant for such a project, it is important to hire one that can complete the project to the end. It may be expensive for the DPS when it realizes that the first consultants could not complete the project successfully when they are midway through the project. It will also be time-consuming as they have to extend the deadline. In the case where the deadline cannot be extended, the project may be poorly completed by the new consultant because of time constraints (Raymond, 2008). Sufficient time should be given to the consultants so that they can finish a project successfully by analyzing how a project works after its completion. It also gives them the opportunity to correct any mistake and ensure that the project is successfully finished. 

References

Department of Parliamentary Services,. (2015). Commonwealth Approach to Market – Consultancy Services. Department of Parliamentary Services.

Mattisson, O., & Thomasson, A. (2007). The strategic process and its impact on the outcome of a tender. Annals of public and cooperative economics, 78(3), 439-454.

Raymond, J. (2008). Benchmarking in public procurement. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 15(6), 782-793.