What was the reason for the loss of the contract

Assignment Help Business Management
Reference no: EM131274138

Kombs Engineering

In June 1993, Kombs Engineering had grown to a company with $25 million in sales. The business base consisted of two contracts with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), one for $15 million and one for $8 million. The remaining $2 million consisted of a variety of smaller jobs for $15,000 to $50,000 each.

The larger contract with DOE was a five-year contract for $15 million per year. The contract was awarded in 1988 and was up for renewal in 1993. DOE had made it clear that, although they were very pleased with the technical performance of Kombs, the follow-on contract must go through competitive bidding by law. Marketing intelligence indicated that DOE intended to spend $10 million per year for five years on the follow-on contract with a tentative award date of October 1993.

On June 21, 1993, the solicitation for proposal was received at Kombs. The technical requirements of the proposal request were not considered to be a problem for Kombs. There was no question in anyone's mind that on technical merit alone, Kombs would win the contract. The more serious problem was that DOE required a separate section in the proposal on how Kombs would manage the $10 million/year project as well as a complete description of how the project management system at Kombs functioned.

When Kombs won the original bid in 1988, there was no project management requirement. All projects at Kombs were accomplished through the traditional organizational structure. Line managers acted as project leaders.

In July 1993, Kombs hired a consultant to train the entire organization in project management. The consultant also worked closely with the proposal team in responding to the DOE project management requirements. The proposal was submitted to DOE during the second week of August. In September 1993, DOE provided Kombs with a list of questions concerning its proposal. More than 95 percent of the questions involved project management. Kombs responded to all questions.

In October 1993, Kombs received notification that it would not be granted the contract. During a post-award conference, DOE stated that they had no "faith" in the Kombs project management system. Kombs Engineering is no longer in business.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the reason for the loss of the contract?

2. Could it have been averted?

3. Does it seem realistic that proposal evaluation committees could consider project management expertise to be as important as technical ability?

From Project Management: Case Studies Fourth Edition by Harold Kerzner

Reference no: EM131274138

Questions Cloud

Examples of projects that suffered from scope creep : Perform some outside research and find  two examples of  projects that  suffered from scope creep. Try to determine why they suffered scope creep. Use specific actions, tools, or techniques discussed in this chapter that could have helped prevent ..
Proposal of a local area network for a company : Suppose you have been asked to give a proposal of a Local Area Network for a company which requires easy reconfiguring, efficient in speed and economical in cost network.
Critical thinking experience : Write 3-4 pages in which you analyze a real-world professional or personal situation where you used critical thinking strategies to solve a problem and make a decision.
Vendor relationships and marketing it value : Many organizations use information technology vendors to develop company solutions. Determine at least three (3) challenges associated with using vendors. Analyze the relationship between competitive advantage and vendor relationship management ov..
What was the reason for the loss of the contract : What was the reason for the loss of the contract - Could it have been averted and Does it seem realistic that proposal evaluation committees could consider project management expertise to be as important as technical ability?
Write an analytical essay about andrew newman : Write an analytical essay about Andrew Newman. What is the author's main argument/intention? What sources does he/she base his/her analysis on? What are the author's conclusions?
How cultural difference contributed to conflict in this case : Best Practices for Working With [Cultural Identity] slides: Identify a best practice for working with a cultural identity in this case and cite the source below. Then, briefly analyze how the best practice could help you navigate this particular r..
Prepare a draft paper on the given topic : Prepare a draft that include the following:Sampling: A careful description of how you obtained the samples. Be very specific. Include sample sizes, population of interest, and description of sample. Also include a copy of the survey if you used on..
How many bytes the virtual memory can have : How many bytes the virtual memory can have? If the page size is 32KB, then how many records should the page table hold? How much data space should physical memory have to hold 32K pages?

Reviews

Write a Review

 

Business Management Questions & Answers

  What are some of the contrasting cultural value of countries

What do you know about these cultures-specifically their economic, political, educational, and social systems-that could help you in getting them together? What are some of the contrasting cultural values of these countries?

  Identify 5 ethical issues in the workplace

3 separate essay question and they need to be min. of 200 words each. 1.)  Identify 5 ethical issues in the workplace.  Then explain how they can be prevented. 2.) What are the differences between legality, morality, and ethics.  Then discuss the si..

  Explain after-tax returns

Explain After-tax returns. West Corporation has $50,000 which it strategies to invest in marketable securities. The corporation is choosing among the following three equally risky securities- Alachua County tax-free municipal bonds yielding six pe..

  Question regarding the business letter

Brainstorm a business that you would like to create that you believe would be successful in your community. Imagine you have already written an excellent proposal for the business, identifying the company name, product or service, target market, a..

  Distributive and integrative negotiations

Show the two different types of negotiation, along with their preparation, strategies, and tactics. In preparation for development and implementation of a strategic supplier alliance which of these types would be most useful?

  What is ai

Briefly answer the following questions based on the DSS handout What is AI? Give an example Explain the 4 roles of DSS?

  Networking and collaboration allow people to telecommute

Networking and collaboration allow people to telecommute, and several studies and anecdotal reports show that telecommuters often are more productive than in-house staff and they tend to be more satisfied with their jobs.

  Explain why is it important to understand the parts of a gcu

Explain why is it important to understand the parts of a GCU assignment? Explain how does properly reading an assignment help you schedule your study time? Express any concerns or difficulties you had during this module.

  Community of practice for company

Analyse the effectiveness of Community of Practice for Company A to share and discover knowledge.

  Demographic changes that will impact human resources

American business and affect the American workforce - Demographic changes that will impact human resources

  How do you analyze special considerations

Can you please describe how the following, Compensation Parity, Expatriate Employees, Host Country Employees, Third Country Employees, Geographical Pay Differentials, and Compensation for Repatriated Employees will impact global pay systems.

  Explaining five forces analysis for airbus

Conduct a five forces analysis for Airbus. What industry forces pose the most serious challenges to airbus?

Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd