Contract Has Been Signed With a Qualified

¶ … contract has been signed with a qualified contractor for working on the firm's computer applications with the mutual understanding that the contractor or vendor would facilitate improved performance and reduced cost of the system. The type of contract reached was 'a time and material' one where it was important that the buyer be thoroughly assured of the contractors' integrity because of the constricted timeline involved and the assurance that the cost of the system would be reduced.

The problem came about when the contractor refused to divulge his baseline data to the buyer, who was seeking to ensure the credibility of the contractor. All of this was important because knowing the quality and success of materials used, the average amount of time that it took contractor to complete past products and the record of his success with past applications would give the buyer insight into how costs would be reduced and assure him that the applications would be seamlessly integrated The contractor has an important role here because his establishment of the program is crucial to the success of the procedure. His track record should be carefully and thoroughly established, he must be honest, and the company should be careful to keep its trusted secrets secure so that security of the process is not breached. The vendor's reputation should lie in his having success with putting together and working with similar (not different) computer software and with similar types and sizes of companies. In this way, the buyer ensures that the vendor and company are an excellent match and that the vendor will be best able to service the company's needs.

The buyer is correct, for more reasons than one, in insisting that the contractor provide the baseline data. If acquisition of facts is not achieved via direct negotiation, arbitration, or mediation, and given the fact that the contract has already been put into effect with the agent having started his work, it may be necessary for the buyer to take his case to court in order to resolve the dispute.

Question 2:

The case scenario here is of a company that is attempting to become more competitive by hastening the response of its IT system. Reacting more speedily can, however, cause underdeveloped products to be generated as well as prompt mistakes and errors. In this case, the new CEO, hired to stimulate and manage a faster system, prevented a new idea from entering the market when the company wished it to. Consequently, another company introduced the product into the market. The firm is now seeking to fire this CEO. Before they do so, however, the president intends to meet with the executive committee to discuss whether this should be the case. The committee decided that the final decision would only occur once a consulting firm has been hired in to make recommendations.

My suggestion is that the consulting firm should carefully investigate all the historical data in this case in order to determine whether the CEO's decision was taken after all aspects had been evaluated and whether the product was truly not ready for entry. If this were the case, the CEO is to be praised for his integrity in avoiding persuasion and manipulation and in refusing to yield to impulsive and instinctive judgments. He is also to be praised for placing importance first and foremost on customer satisfaction and product perfection rather than on ambition and aim of money and fame. His act, if such was the case, may have prevented the company from gaining in the short run but it would almost certainly have saved them from losing their reputation and money in the long run. Additionally, it may have saved them going into bankruptcy and closure.

Question 3:

The majority of leading organizations have adopted key performance indicators (KPIs) which play an important role in their IT acquisition project planning.

KPIs are notations or instruments that are used to measure the success of the employees working for the organization or to measure the success of the project planning and development itself.

The organization would first want to know which criteria to use to define 'success'. They would want to clearly define their objectives. Sometimes, success may be defined as moving towards an objective goal, but other times it may simply be continuous and insistent repletion of some operational goal (e.g. An employee's performance). Moreover, different stages or performers may have different KPIs that reflect their different tasks and persona.