Purpose And Scope


Technical Purpose

One technical purpose is that the work performed by outsourcing firms is of high quality. Quality is a subjective term so that means that standards have to be set and enforced. If this was a more localized book, then you would see here an extensive discussion of quality. The problem in international projects is that there are other factors involved. Politically, you may have to accept a specific partner who, in effect, is an outsourcer. Then the technical purpose is to get the most work done for the limited amount of money and effort.

Even if the relationship is entirely political, the focus is on performance. What was done over a specific period with respect to work by the vendor or partner? In order to answer this question, you also have to address what is really important in the vendor relationship.

Another technical purpose is that knowledge gained and used by the vendors is transferred to your people. How do you test for this? Try a variety of situations out on the staff who have interacted with the vendor and see what happens.

Business Purpose

Here you must separate the vendors into two groups—those that you require from a technical view and those that you need politically. For the first, the business goal is the work performed by the vendors gets done on time and within budget. This is more traditional outsourcing. For the second group, you are on more fuzzy turf. You have to determine what the relationship has brought you in terms of the business. You may be met with promises that things will happen in your favor. This sounds fine the first time, but it is tiring the fifth time. You have to set a cutoff for performance—otherwise, you risk being bled dry.

Political Purpose

For international projects, there can be a variety of political objectives. Some that have surfaced in the past include:

  • Generate sufficient revenue to justify the expense of having the vendor firm.

  • Get a positive return when you calculate what would have happened without the consultant. This is a good test since it starts to examine what would have happened if you had not hired the consultant or vendor.

  • Gain independence through acquiring knowledge, contacts, and expertise through the vendor.




International Project Management
International Project Management: Leadership in Complex Environments
ISBN: 0470578823
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 154

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