Читать книгу Contract management with CATS CM® version 4 - Gert-Jan Vlasveld - Страница 8

A constantly changing world

Change is nothing new. It is continuous and eternal. Technological and social changes rapidly follow one another, which is why revised policies and goals are coming out of corporate boardrooms at an increasingly faster pace. Even though long-term plans were commonplace in every sector when we published earlier versions of the CATS CM methodology, we now see that the strategy has changed from a comprehensive multi-year plan to a multi-year vision that focuses much more on the options for making additional and faster adjustments.

Nobody can and wants to do it alone

Responding adequately and timely to this fast-changing environment is crucial for the organization’s operations and continuity. Moreover, in recent years both suppliers and clients have been involving more and more parties, resulting in new collaboration models to facilitate this. Both clients and suppliers have seen the number of contracts increase and/or have become part of complex contract chains. There is also an increasing awareness that an organization’s overall contract portfolio has become an ecosystem rather than simply the sum of those contracts. As an ecosystem, the cohesive whole is aimed at delivering added value to the entire system. Consequently, the way the collaboration works towards a joint goal can be more important than the implementation of an objective linked to an individual contract. Creating value is a joint effort. Being open to external influences is essential for the proper functioning of the ecosystem. This requires flexibility and strong control measures on the overall contract portfolio within this ecosystem.

Changing times require different contractual relationships

The acceleration mentioned above also means that the relationship between client and supplier often needs to change as well. As the initial situation in which the contract was created remains the same for increasingly shorter periods, the need to allow for adjustments within the existing contract increases. This growing need for and frequency of change demands contracts that offer scope to do that. Moreover, the contract manager’s input and expertise have only become more urgent during the phases before the finalized contract is signed, which is why this version of the CATS CM methodology describes the contract manager’s role and involvement, in this pre-award phase, even more extensively.

Contract management has become a strategic necessity

Shareholders, legislators and supervising bodies all demand transparency. In public organizations, there is an ever-increasing call for a demonstrable structure of responsibilities. Besides, executive boards and directors in the public domain have gained a better understanding of the fact that entering into contracts can be a risky enterprise. Whereas financial risks used to be the main concern in contracts, today, aspects like continuity are increasingly often identified as a risk. In a society specialized to a large degree, outsourcing has become fundamental. The result of this specialization leads to contracts covering a much larger part of the process, while organizations no longer have the in-house expertise to adjust for any possible discrepancies. Suppliers almost always use contracts to structure their relationships with clients. Most of all, the rise of the customer-success function, which has an even more intense focus on delivery, indicates the increasing importance of the contract management function. The same applies to timely and adequate risk management. With the increased demand for transparency and responsibility, as well as the fact that timely and adequate contract risk management is quickly becoming more relevant, the importance of proactive contract management only grows, and is being added to the organizations’ agendas on a strategic level.

In version 4 of the CATS CM methodology, which is significantly extended and offers many practical tools, we respond to the changes and issues in the market, for which we can draw upon our experiences with the many organizations that have allowed us to share our expertise on contract management in recent years.