Experience as a Project Manager of IRTC - Assignment Example

?My Experience as a Project Manager of IRTC As a project manager, I have an adequate experience of procurement management since the start of my position in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRTC). It was challenging but I enjoyed most of my tasks. It involves decision making as to which suppliers can give our company the materials of standard quality. I have been performing several activities that strictly follow my procurement management plan that includes expert judgment on products to be purchased, and deciding what contract types the company shall use in order to maximize the return of investment (Judd, 2007). The bidding procedures have brought several challenges to the entire department. As the project head, I see to it that we can follow a strategic plan from inviting suppliers to present proposals to closing a contract from one of the suppliers that has passed the eligibility checked. It’s easier said than done. A procurement plan is simpler than the actual process. In the preceding paragraphs, I will explain in details the highlights of my role as the project manager and procurement head. As I’ve said, my role has been associated from the very start of the procurement procedure which involve expert judgment and using appropriate criteria to identify the scope of work that best suit our current project few suppliers has presented on our department during the opening of bids. Prior to that, I and my committee would develop a qualified sellers list that would enumerate several companies that offer similar projects of standard quality. I am studying, not only the present standing of these suppliers, but their completed projects over the past years. This examination will include product or service package like discounts, after sales service, warranty and the like. Our invitation to bid letters will be sent to the chosen suppliers who have passed our criteria. This process makes the work simpler rather than allowing all companies, manufacturers and service providers to participate the sealed bidding. The tasks do not end here; the project would be awarded not only for the sellers who have offered the lowest price. Price is deceiving at times. Our criteria for selecting one or few sellers to participate on the contract are brands and end users feedbacks about them. Statistics won’t like so I used to collect feedbacks from different types of end users. One of the trickiest parts is contract negotiation, as a project manager, I always see to it that the contract would always in favour of the company. Based on the several experiences from procurement of ICT infrastructure to enhance our E-Ticketing System to repair and renovation of tourist train coaches, I have always come up with an outstanding contract with our awarded suppliers. That was made possible with the help of my committee. More heads are better than one. Nevertheless, before the contract can be finalized, our decision will be submitted to the contract department. We have in-house experts who are tasked to re-examine our reports before the purchased order and contacts will be released and signed. Despite of the presence of our in-house experts on the contract and purchasing department, my part on the planning and decision making of the procurement committee is a very important factor of the success of the project. I did most of the plan and control. I will tell you more about the behind scenes of the procurement management. Success is always associated to risks and failures. Despite of feasibility studies and similar researches, I also deal several procurement risks. As a project manager, I also developed a solid procurement risk management plan to solve anticipated risks. In conducting research, I always remind my committee to consider both pros and cons. Prevention is better than cure. I strongly believe that this is very applicable to business. To maximize the return of investment, I always look for a practical, well-structured plan to start the project. Some common examples of risks are unrealistic schedule set by vendors, after sales services such as upgrades and configuration management of the purchased technology, questionable projects and the possibility that the final and actual products would not meet the end users specifications (Piscopo, n.d.). Sellers or suppliers may at times set unrealistic schedule for delivering the goods in the respective sites. Some of them would fill up unworkable delivery period in the contract of work and this might be overlooked by the committee. I have created some practical measures to prevent the delay of our project due to undelivered materials. Manuals for purchased machinery in enhancing our E-ticketing system might not capable of assisting our technicians when there is an unexpected trouble or necessary upgrades. I shall see to it that our personnel are properly trained by the authorized personnel of the vendors. Honesty is the best policy. That concept might be overlooked in dealing business related transactions. Vendors may choose to withhold questionable and unfinished projects in the past which might happen again. In this light, performance bond should be submitted by vendors upon the awarding of the contract to give us an extra assurance that the goods will be delivered to us as scheduled. I also created a committee of engineers to closely examine the actual products; actual specification should match with the technical specifications of items duly signed by the suppliers. IRTC has list of open tenders as of date and I am excited to perform several important activities related to the procurement (“List of Open Tenders”, n.d.). I have received few appreciations from the top management for the job well done and for the camaraderie I have established with the workforce so I am anticipating another challenging tasks for the maintenance and improvement of the different facilities of IRTC. I am looking forward to work for the Digital PR (SEO) website design media management and online reputation management of tourist trained website project (“List of Open Tenders”, n.d.). The procurement of digital products and SEO services is new to me so I am excited. I love new experiences, and this project would definitely widen my experience and expertise in terms of project management. I will repeat and improve the process. I will concentrate more on time, cost, quality, communication and risk managements (Haughey, n.d). I will apply a strategic plan to ensure that our project will be finished in a timely manner. We are expecting to cater millions of booking transactions on our website so we will make sure that our website design will give a better users’ experience. We will be hiring trusted SEO companies to help us structured our website’s search engine optimization to rank higher on Google and other major search engines. I am new to SEO that’s why I am extending my efforts to learn more about it. IRTC is a very customer oriented company so I need to double my effort to ensure that all acquired materials meet the highest standard to give our customers a very good reason to patronize our tourism campaigns. In connection, communication is very important for the workforce to achieve different goals. We have regular meetings and open forums to ensure that we understand our roles. As I have mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, I am always working hard to anticipate risks and develop effective and practical solutions for them. I am always working for a reason – success. Lastly, procurement-related activities may involve managing stakeholders’ engagement because they are part of the organization. Engagement with the stakeholders is not an option anymore because it is premised on the notion that those groups who can affect or affected by the success of the organization should be given the voice to raise their opinions and suggestions about matters that can affect them (“Stakeholder Engagement”, 2009). Procurement of different materials for the projects of IRTC, from infrastructure, machineries to digital products – the stakeholders must be given the access to know all the necessary activities from project integration to procurement management. While I do the plan and control, most of the decisions are coming from the majority; and that’s what makes our previous projects successful. References Judd, M. (2007). Project Procurement Management. Retrieved from http://www.eastidahopmi.org/5-16-07mtg.pdf Haughey, D. (n.d.). The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/pmbok.html Piscopo, M. (n.d.). Procurement Management Plan. Retrieved from http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com/project-planning-templates/procurement-management-plan.html (n.d.). List of Open Tenders. Retrieved from http://www.irctc.com/DownloadDocuments?workflow=geDocListByCategory&doc_cat_id=1 The Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility. (2009). Stakeholder Engagement: A Roadmap to Meaningful Engagement. http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/dinamic-content/think/documents/CR_Stakeholder.pdf http://www.irctc.com/DownloadDocuments?workflow=geDocListByCategory&doc_cat_id=1 Read More