Introduction
For my paper, I am going to discuss the Knowledge Area for Procurement Management.
Procurement Management deals with being purchase and obtain products and or services need to
complete a project. A project manager needs to know how to attain these items to make the complete a
project or have someone in place that oversees this task because without goods, a project will not be
able to start or finish. In my paper I will review all the phases of communication management and by the
end of the paper the reader will have a better understanding of these phases and how to implement
them in their next project.
Project Procurement Management KA phase takes place in the Planning, Executing, and the
Monitoring and Controlling Process Group. Project procurement management includes the processes
necessary to purchase and acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project as well
as the management and control of the processes required to develop and administer agreements,
contracts, and purchase orders (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). There are three main phases that are
involved with procurement management for a project to be successful, which are, plan procurement
management, conduct procurements and control procurements (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017).
Each phase has different inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs that are needed and each rely on the
other phases to make them run as effectively as possible. We will cover what each phase is and how to
effectively incorporate the steps to make them successful, as well as what procurement is and how to
use it to better help the project.
Plan Procurement Management
The first part of Procurement Management is Plan Procurement Management, which is part of
the planning process group (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). This process involves documenting all
decisions pertaining to the procurement of good and services to include identifying potential sellers,
what needs to be acquired, how much and when to acquire it (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). This is
important because an item that is on backorder could halt a project and cause it to get behind. For this
phase to operate successfully there needs to be contributions put together to make these tasks run
smoothly. First, inputs needed to start the process of the procurement management plan include a
project charter, project management plan and project documents (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017).
The person in charge of procurement needs to understand how to read these documents and know
where to look for the resources that are required for the project. This will help in the steps to come
because they will know exactly what needs to be purchased.
Next the tools and techniques needed to complete the tasks and goals of the inputs include
expert judgement, data gathering and analysis, meetings, organizational process assets and source
selection analysis (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). The most important part of this process is having
everything needed for the organizational process assets. This can include a preapproved seller list,
formal procurement policies and procedures, and a contract type that defines how items will be paid for
during the project (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). Lastly, the outputs are a conclusion of all work
completed from the inputs, tools, and techniques. Outputs include a procurement management plan,
procurement strategy, bid documents, and make or buy decisions (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017).
These are all tasks that are needed and defined everything needed for the following phases to come.
Without this process, the project will have a hard time finishing because it lacks the resources available
to complete the project.
Conduct Procurements
The second part of Procurement Management is Conduct Procurement and is par of the
executing process group (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). This is the phase of the project that
engages in organizing and managing activities that gets all the products that are needed for successful
completion (Project Management Knowledge, 2021). The main objective of this is the process of
obtaining seller responses, selecting a seller, and awarding a contract (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition,
2017). The person in charge of procuring needs to make sure that the seller is qualified and agrees to
the contract to sell and ship the items purchased. There will probably be more than one bid, and it is
important to interact with the sellers and see what a finished product would look like to gauge the
quality. First, the inputs are needed to start the process of conducting procurements include a project
management plan and project documents, procurement documentation and seller proposals (PMBOK
Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). These inputs all rely on other phases of a project, as well as updating
documents that have been created before these processes. Seller proposals are important because it
gives the person who is conducting the procurement an idea of the items available for purchase. From
these proposals, the budget can be adjusted accordingly to determine the amount of money that is used
to acquire these items.
Next the tool and techniques needed to complete the tasks and goals of the inputs include
expert judgement, advertising, data analysis, and bidder conferences (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition,
2017). This stage of the project, the person in charge of the procuring needs to be advised on the quality
of product that they are trying to purchase. Then they will use their expert judgement to advertise and
conduct conferences that invite bidders to go over all steps for submittal and make sure everyone
understands the process. Lastly, the outputs are a culmination of all the hard work completed from the
inputs, tools, and techniques. These outputs include a project management plan and document updates,
selected sellers, agreements, and change requests (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). Once a supplier is
selected, there needs to be contract or agreement set in place that goes over the terms for the sale. This
is the most important part of this process because it includes all the prices and clearly sets the
requirements and expectations for the contract (MSU, 2021). Without a contract, there can be
miscommunication about the quality and quantity of the expected item. This is a prime example of why
this phase is in the executing process group because every step needs to be performed to complete the
work.
Control Procurements
The third part of Procurement Management is Control Procurement and is part of the
Monitoring and Controlling Process Group (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). For this phase, it is all
about managing everything that has been completed up to this point. It is the output phase of project
procurement management. This process is responsible for managing procurement relationships,
monitoring contract performance, making changed and corrections and closing out completed projects
(PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). The most important part about this phase is to make sure that
everything that has been requested has been accomplished. First, the inputs are needed to start the
process of controlling procurements include a project management plan and documents, agreements,
procurement documentation, and approved change requests (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017). While
all these inputs are important, change requests are required when things go wrong. These are important
because they are modifications to contracts that have already been established in prior phases.
Next the tool and techniques needed to complete the tasks and goals of the inputs include
expert judgement, claims administration, data analysis, and audits (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition, 2017).
There will always be parts of a project that do not go as planned, this is where a claims administration
comes into play. It is important to note that a claims administration is like a change request but instead
of something that needs to be change it is items in a project that are contested or disputed (Lean CX,
2021). Lastly, the outputs are a culmination of all the hard work completed from the inputs, tools, and
techniques. These outputs include closed procurements, work performance information, procurement
documentation updates, project document updates, and change requests (PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition,
2017). For the deliverables, the importance of this step is to document everything that has happened.
The work performance information is the data derived from how the seller is holding up their end of the
bargain. Control Procurements is the culmination of every phase and monitors all the progress that has
been made and is the checks and balances for the procurement management phase.
For procurement management, there needs to be leeway with who is going to be selling items
for the project as there is no guarantee that the best sell will bid for the project. An agile approach tends
to provide early feedback to not only the customers but everyone else involved with the project. It also
relies heavily on the collaboration of work between the customer and suppliers (Zavyalova, Sokolov , &
Lisovskay, 2020). For all these reasons, I feel like procurement management would be best suited for an
agile approach. A project manager and a project need to have adaptability, especially in the Covid era, as
products are never guaranteed and can be backed up for months at a time. Due to this, it has caused the
market to be more competitive, less predictable and makes it unstable which makes it perfect for the
agile method (Rane, Narvel, & Bhandarkar, 2020). There needs to be some forward planning to
compensate for the wait time that way the project at a standstill.
Biblical Integration
As we have learned, procurement is the purchasing or buying of goods and or services to
complete a task. Without someone in charge of these responsibilities, items would not be in place for
their specific role to help complete a project. In the bible, there are a few instances that come to mind
for procuring goods to complete a project. Nehemiah and Noah had to acquire items to build the Ark or
the wall. They had to make agreements with other people in order to purchase or trade for things that
were needed to finish the project. This is the whole idea behind procurement, the assurance that all
items will be where they need to complete the task at hand.
Conclusion
Throughout this paper I have covered the three phases of the Procurement Management and
the importance of how to purchase or acquire goods and or services. Planning, conducting and
controlling the ability to obtain goods and or service for a project is vital to its completion. Proverbs
23:23 says “Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding” (ESV). The whole
part of a project is to build a product that people will either use want to use daily. This phase is more
important than most because without the ability to acquire these goods or services a project will never
be able to start or be completed.
References
Lean CX. (2021). Claims Administration. Retrieved from Lean CX: http://www.leancxscore.com/claims-
administration/
MSU. (2021). What is procurement management. Retrieved from Michigan State University:
https://www.michiganstateuniversityonline.com/resources/supply-chain/what-is-procurement-
management/
PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition. (2017). Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute, INC.
Project Management Knowledge. (2021). Conduct Procurements. Retrieved from Project Management
Knowledge: https://project-management-knowledge.com/definitions/c/conduct-procurements/
Rane, S. B., Narvel, Y. A., & Bhandarkar, B. M. (2020). Strategies to improve agility in the PPM process.
Business Process Management Journal, 257-286; DOI:10.1108/BPMJ-07-2017-0196.
Zavyalova, E., Sokolov , D., & Lisovskay, A. (2020). Agile vs traditional project management approaches:
Comparing human resource management architectures. International Journal of Organizational
Analysis, Vol 28 (5), p. 1095-1112. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-08-2019-1857.
Zuberi, S. (1987). Contract/ Procurement Management. Retrieved from PRoject Mangement Institue:
https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/contract-procurement-management-9101
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