The Contract Process - Essay Example

The Contract Process Introduction A contract involves a legally binding agreement between twoor more parties whereby, the parties agree to full fill certain terms and condition before the expiry of the contract. To be effective and efficient, Coca-Cola Company should establish a proper contract process. In addition, the company should observe certain elements of contract formation as well as take into consideration the most appropriate steps in contract formation. This may help the company to increase its market share, profitability and employees’ moral (Frey, 2012). The Contract Process As an Organizational Development Professional of Coca-Cola Company, I will create several contract process intervention measures to ensure that the profitability of the company and employees morale is increases as well as ensure that the company market share increases. Among the intervention measures that will be undertaken include; application of contracting tools and techniques. Among the tools and techniques to be employed are defining the proper contract process that should be followed by the company. A Contract process in this case will involve; initiation phase, bidding phase, contract development phase, contract management phase and closure phase. The above phases should be strictly adhered to ensure that Coca-Cola Company does not lose its financial resources via awarding supply contracts to unqualified contractors. The Initiation phase further focuses at defining the contract requirements as well as activities that must be fulfilled. In this phase a contract is determine where it is a contract of sale, procurement contract, commercial agreements, a contract of partnership among others forms of contract (Frey, 2012). Under the bidding phase, the organization invites highly qualifiers vendors to apply for the contract. The organization stipulates the qualifications for that must be met by the applicants prior submitting their application. This may involve submission of necessary documents required, amount of cash and the procedure that the applicants should follow when submitting their bids. After the applicants have submitted their bids the contract management committee reviews their application and invite the most appropriate applicant to sign the contract. The contract move into another phase known as contract development phase where the project is being monitored and financial resources utilized to enable efficient execution of the contract. The contract management phase is also undertaken to ensure that resources are properly utilized for proper execution of the contract. Finally, upon the contract expiry period contract termination/closure is undertaken. Under this phase, contract an evaluation is made to determine whether the goals and objectives of the contract have been met and lessons leant from the entire contract process (Whoze, Flickety, ShrUtiable & Maniac, 2014). The Coca-Cola Company should further take into consideration most important elements that are essential in the contract formation process. Those elements include; an offer, confirmation of offer acceptance, determination of contract details, documentation of the contract, signing and production of the contract hard copy. The first elements entail making an offer for any contract to be considered legally binding. This means that Coca-Cola Company must invite potential suppliers to apply for a contract of distributing Coca-Cola products into various destinations. The second element entails confirmation of whether the offer made has been accepted by the suppliers. The acceptance of an offer may be made via three major ways namely; through writing, orally or via performance. However, acceptance via performance may jeopardize operation of Coca-Cola company and therefore, it is advisable for acceptance to be made via writing. The third element may involve working out the details of the contract. This means that the company should define the manner in which contract should be executed as well as define the responsibilities of each party in the contract. Further the time frame for the contract completion and cost to be incurred should be Cleary defined (Frey, 2012). The fourth element involves documenting the contract. This means that after a contract has been established, the Coca-Cola contract management committee should put the contract into writing. Documenting the contract helps to make it more binding among the parties involved. In addition, it helps to ensure that legal actions can be easily undertaken in case one of the parties breached the contract. Therefore, the steps followed to document the contract include: Identify the name that will be used to refer to the contract throughout the contract document. For example, the appropriate name in this case may be ‘Distribution Contract for the Coca Cola Company ’. The second step may involve writing down the names of the parties involved in the contract. The names may help to make reference throughout the contract. Example of such reference includes; on 5th March 2014, it was agreed that XYZ Company will distribute Coca-Cola products into Europe, Asia and Africa (Whoze, Flickety, ShrUtiable & Maniac, 2014). The third step involves a consideration that will be made upon execution of the contract. For example, if XYZ Company successfully distributes Coca-Cola Company to the designated destination, the Coca-Cola Company must give XYZ Company a consideration which in most contracts should be in monetary terms. The forth step of contract documentation entails defining the specific dates when the contract will be signed by the parties involved into a contract. The last step entails signing the contract and authenticating it to make it more binding. The names and signature of the parties involved are impeded on the contract document. Finally, the contract document is printed, signed and copies produced (Whoze, Flickety, ShrUtiable & Maniac, 2014). Conclusion/Expected project outcomes The expected potential outcomes for this project include; timely completion of the project, increase in distribution channels, increase in sales volume and profits, higher market share, cut down distribution cost and improved employee’s morale. In contract management process a project is said to have a successful outcome if it that project has been accomplished within the stipulated timeframe. This means that if a project has been completed beyond the allocated timeframe the project is said to have failed. The contract is also anticipated to increase the distribution channels for supplying Coca-Cola soft drinks. This will intern increase the company sales volume, profitability and market share. It is also anticipated that the project will cut down distribution cost because this cost will be absorbed by supplier who will be awarded the contract (Saxena & International Association for Contract and Commercial Management, 2008). References Frey, R. S. (2012). Successful proposal strategies for small businesses: Using knowledge management to win government, private-sector, and international contacts. Boston: Artech House. Saxena, A., & International Association for Contract and Commercial Management. (2008). Enterprise contract management: A practical guide to successfully implementing an ECM solution. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla: J. Ross Pub. Whoze, Flickety, ShrUtiable & Maniac. (2014). How to make a contract. Retrieved :< http:// www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Contract> on 3.4.2014. Read More