Commercial Project Management

(Insert Student Name) / (Insert Student Number) - PPMP20011 Unit Portfolio for Week 7

Description of topics including reading samples	Learning outcomes of the unit	Learnings from your experience, this and prior unit reading, assignments	Supporting documentation including your prior learning
Week 7 Topic: Disputes, Claims, Variations, and Arbitration. Collaborative Project Procurement Arrangements (2015) by Derek H. T. Walker and Beverly M. Lloyd Walker; Cheung S.O., & and Chow P.T. 2011. Withdrawal in Construction Project Dispute Negotiation. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. Volume 137, Issue 12	5. Explain the consequences of project delays, disruptions, and changes to planned activities and the methods for claims variations, liquidated damages, contract entitlements, and arbitration.	The objective of this week’s topic is to make sure you have an appreciation of the Role of the Project Manager in Commercial Negotiation. Try to ask yourself the questions that were in the slides in this week’s lecture:- 1) What is the Consequence of Disputes, Claims, Variations, and Arbitration? Disputes, arbitrations and claims affect commercial negotiation. When parties to a contract differ on material facts, the project under considerations is likely to delay. Delay in contracts is likely to increase the contract cost as workers who are paid monthly continues to receive their wages. Claims can also affect the viability of the project since one of the parties may withdraw or get discharged from the contract (Haapio & Siedel, 2017). 2) How can we Avoid Disputes, Claims, Variations, and Arbitration? Disputes can be avoided by having parties discuss all material details in the contract before pending signatures. All agreements should be written down as opposed to working on verbal agreements where one party can easily dispute oral agreements. The presence of a third party such as the project manager would also be helpful in responding to potential disputes before they arise 3) What happens if we don’t Avoid Disputes, Claims, Variations, and Arbitration? A project that does not avoid disputes is likely to suffer lack of trust among stakeholders. Projects are also likely to delay and the project manager would be constrained to deliver on his mandate within stipulated time (Haapio & Siedel, 2017). Walker & Walker (2015) discuss their Study Approach what are your thoughts regarding: 1) Does the World View of the Researchers Matter? World view of the researcher matters. Although research is expected to be objective and therefore lacking opinion of the researcher, the researcher’s world view is likely to affect framing of various elements in the research. 2) Has the research been adequately Validated? In other cases, the researcher’s bias affects research outcomes. Walker & Walker (2015) validate the research by using scientific design and methodology without inputting personal opinion S.O. Cheung & and P. T. Chow in 2011 consider the topic of Withdrawal in Construction Project Dispute Negotiation; what are your thoughts regarding: 1) Are the assumptions in Cheung & Chow’s research and hypotheses reasonable? S.O. Cheung & and P. T. Chow in 2011 discuss how behavioural characteristics of the negotiators in dispute negotiations can result in withdrawal from further negotiations. The authors assume that personality, cognition, and motivation influence the ability of negotiators to sustain negotiations. It is reasonable to assume that these factors will impact any negotiations. Emotional stability as well as mental strength is important elements during commercial negotiations (Lu et al., 2014). Lack of these factors is likely to lead to premature withdrawal from negotiations. 2) Are the results of the true and false Hypotheses believable in your experience? The researchers found that emotion is the greatest factor that may lead to withdrawal of negotiators from ongoing talks. While emotional stability is an important factor in commercial negotiation, other aspects such as competence of the parties and availability of dispute resolution mechanisms are equally important (Lu et al., 2014). Overall, unstable emotions are likely to affect quality discussions In conclusion to this week: 1) Do the ideas in Chapter 5 help in structuring your thoughts around Commercial Project Negotiation? Ideas in chapter 5 are influential on how I may approach commercial negotiations. It is evident that when entering commercial negotiations, one must consider the possibility that a dispute may arise during negotiations. The project manager should especially be careful during discussions to anticipate areas that may bring about disputes and calling the attention of all concerned parties to the issues as early as possible. Furthermore, disputes and claims are likely to affect the progress of the project thus requiring thorough negotiations amongst stakeholders.	PPMP20011 Unit Profile PPMP20011 Moodle Web site Have you any insights you can add from other units you have studies or readings you’ve made?
Are any of the activities above relevant to your reflections for the learning outcomes on the right?	6. Evaluate project management tools that help avoid or provide conflict resolution via negotiated solutions.	Walker & Walker (2015) in Chapter 6 of their research paper have identified four sets of KSAE that are required in varying intensities across the board in RBP. 1) What does KSAE stands for and what are the four identified KSAEs KSAE stands for knowledge, skills, attribute, and experience that a project manager needs to have in order to successfully manage a project (Walker & Lloyd-Walker, 2014). These skills are not only necessary during negotiations but also during the performance of a project. They help the manager in making productive decisions that propel the project toward desired outcomes. 2) Briefly discuss, how Project Management KSAE impacts upon the management of projects. KSAE entails the manager’s knowledge of the project aims and pathways to realizing the objectives. Furthermore, having requisite skills enables the manager to direct and supervise the performance of the project in a way that is beneficial to the client (Walker & Lloyd-Walker, 2014). The manager would use the experience acquired over years in similar circumstances to make decisions that have favourable outcomes.	Have you any insights you can add from other units you have studies or readings you’ve made?

References

Kerzner H. 2013. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Control, 11th Edition. Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons.

Peña-Mora F., and Tamaki T. 2001. "Effect of Delivery Systems on Collaborative Negotiations for Large -Scale Infrastructure Projects”. Journal of Management in Engineering. April 2001 pp.105-121

PMI. 2013a. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) 5th Edition. USA: Project Management Institute.

Wikipedia Channel Tunnel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel

Haapio, H., & Siedel, G. J. (2017). A short guide to contract risk. Routledge.

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