Retour aux nouvelles

24 avril 2018 | Information, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR

Bridging the ­Procurement Divide

CHRIS MACLEAN
© 2018 FrontLine Defence (Vol 15, No 2)

A critically honest and engaged discussion about government and industry engagement, was held recently at the Telfer School of Management as part of the new Complex Project Leadership Programs.

The program participants (mostly federal civil servants who are involved in procurement) interacted with executive-level industry leaders – Joe Armstrong, Vice President and General Manager at CAE; Jerry McLean, Vice President and Managing Director of Thales Canada; Iain Christie, Vice President of AIAC; and Kevin Ford, CEO of Calian – who shared their leadership insights, as well as what it is really like to do business in Canada.

Through the highlighting of mutual pain points and frustrations, as well as identifying what is being done well and ways to move forward together, efficiently, each party gained insight and understanding that is sure to improve communication and future progress. It was evident that both sides wanted to learn from each other and pinpoint the principles that would help achieve mutual success; ultimately impacting the national economic footprint and saving taxpayer dollars.

From the industry perspective, dependability equals direction. When a company can be assured that it has a fair opportunity to compete for a contract, it can set its sights on that goal and will make the necessary investments to ensure the best possible outcome. When government programs start and stop and change and restart, companies find it difficult to justify the extended costs because they lose their competitive edge and/or any ability to make a profit. Instability does not save the taxpayer, but it does have the potential to impact both quality of product and sustainability of the bidders (therefore employment numbers).

Contracts equal sustainability and confirmation that the company direction is on track for success.

Profit equals growth and further investment. Employment and supply chain purchases depend on a profit margin that allows growth. This “number one” business requirement conflicts with the government's prime directive is to ensure its bidders make a bare minimum of profit.

When asked what they need from their government counterparts in order to create a better working relationship and foster a robust industry that can contribute to a strong GDP, the industry panelists identified two key elements. One was “more accuracy in the procurement process” and the other was “predictability”. Industry must be able to foresee where profits and sustainability could potentially come from. The time it takes to award large projects is also a limiting factor to success.

It was noted that, since the beginning of time, a cornerstone of success for industry has always been ensuring the satisfaction of its client. It is believed that trust in the quality of the product and ease of customer service will lead to sustainability in the form of continued business. Not so with government contracts, which seem skewed to ensure previous successes gain no advantage, and must in some cases be hidden from decision-makers. Not taking into account a company's excellent past delivery performance, was said to contribute to industry's lack of incentive to perform to the best of its ability at all times.

A company's ability to invest goes beyond individual contracts, which means the prospect of being evaluated for value can be a powerful incentive for going that extra mile – if exploited, not suppressed.

Government employees were encouraged to exhibit courage in pursuing ways to truly streamline the procurement process, rather than repeatedly adding more and more layers of approvals and meetings.

Industry leaders across the spectrum have commented on a palpable “lack of trust” on the part of government negotiators. Does this mistrust come from contract negotiators feeling the pursuit of profit is somehow un-Canadian? Or does it mean a company does not care enough about its customers? Neither assumption is accurate, and this may be one area where a culture change could make a world of difference.

As one audience member exclaimed: “This was the best, most transparent conversation regarding the procurement process, I have ever heard.” While large-scale procurements will always be contentious due to the huge dollars and risk at stake, embracing the concept of open and unreserved dialogue, like what was experienced by this small group, has the potential to uncover procurement pitfalls and create a more progressive process.

The Telfer School of Management's Complex Program Leadership programs focus on the hard and soft skills necessary to successfully deliver inherently complex programs and projects, while emphasizing strategic thinking, creative problem solving, stakeholder engagement, and leadership skills as key building blocks for this goal.

http://defence.frontline.online/article/2018/2/9586-Bridging-the-vast-%C2%ADProcurement-Divide

Sur le même sujet

  • Nous avons besoin de vous | Aéro Montréal lance une campagne de communication inédite pour attirer et retenir les talents dans l’industrie aérospatiale québécoise

    24 avril 2022 | Information, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Nous avons besoin de vous | Aéro Montréal lance une campagne de communication inédite pour attirer et retenir les talents dans l’industrie aérospatiale québécoise

    NOUS AVONS BESOIN DE VOUS ! Aéro Montréal lance une campagne de communication inédite pour attirer et retenir les talents dans l'industrie aérospatiale québécoise Chers membres, chers partenaires, L'exercice de planification stratégique d'Aéro Montréal et les nombreux entretiens menés avec l'industrie ont fait ressortir deux attentes majeures de la part de l'industrie aérospatiale québécoise : améliorer la visibilité de l'industrie et trouver des solutions pour attirer et retenir la main-d'œuvre. À l'heure où l'industrie connaît un regain d'activité, le conseil d'administration d'Aéro Montréal n'a pas tardé à se mobiliser pour répondre à ces besoins identifiés par les entreprises. Ses membres ont donné le ton en appuyant financièrement le déploiement d'une campagne de communication massive dont l'objectif sera d'assurer la visibilité du secteur, de stimuler l'attraction de talents et de soutenir la rétention de la main-d'œuvre. Vous avez un rôle à jouer Nous lançons un appel pour engager la contribution de chaque membre de la grappe aérospatiale du Québec : c'est gr'ce à votre soutien financier que nous ferons de cette campagne un succès. Aéro Montréal mandatera une agence pour coordonner une campagne de communication. Aéro Montréal sera garant de représenter la pluralité des pans de l'industrie et s'assurera de véhiculer des messages communs qui répondent aux objectifs des maitres-d'œuvre, équipementiers, sous-traitants et fournisseurs. Toutefois, le succès d'une telle opération ne saurait être garanti sans un investissement de l'ensemble des parties prenantes. Participez à cet élan collectif : nous devons remplir nos programmes de formations en aérospatiale, nous devons nous assurer de maintenir et d'accroître la richesse du bassin d'employés qualifiés disponible au Québec. En offrant de la visibilité au secteur, nous nous assurons de poser les premières fondations qui nous permettront d'y arriver. Chaque entreprise de la grappe est invitée à contribuer financièrement et ainsi soutenir ce projet qui servira l'intérêt collectif. Toutes les contributions comptent ! Ils ont d'ores et déjà dit OUI Ces premières entreprises se sont engagées aux côtés d'Aéro Montréal pour permettre à cette campagne de visibilité de voir le jour. Joignez-vous à elles! Comment contribuer ? Ce projet compte sur la mobilisation de tous les membres de la grappe. Les confirmations d'engagement sont attendues avant le vendredi 6 mai 2022 et l'équipe d'Aéro Montréal met tout en œuvre pour vous proposer des termes de paiement flexibles et échelonnés selon vos besoins. Si vous souhaitez contribuer ou en apprendre davantage sur le projet, vous vous invitons à contacter Léa Guicheteau, Directrice pilier Image et aérospatiale durable (lea.guicheteau@aeromontreal.ca ; 514-550-7494). 380, rue Saint-Antoine Ouest Bureau 3120 Montréal, QC, H2Y 3X7 Téléphone : (514) 987-9330 ENVOYER À UN AMI SITE WEB

  • The Army wants a singular focus, not one-off solutions

    10 juin 2019 | Information, C4ISR

    The Army wants a singular focus, not one-off solutions

    By: Mark Pomerleau The days of one-off solutions for providing situational awareness and command-and-control information in the Army could be numbered. “We are on the verge of putting tactical common operating environment capability into the Army organization in the very near term,” Col. Troy Crosby, project manager for mission command at Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, said June 6 at the C4ISRNET Conference in Arlington, Virginia. The Army is getting ready to field the first set of capabilities under a new modernized network architecture in 2021, which will include the first iteration of the Command Post Computing Environment (CP CE). CP CE is a web-enabled system that will consolidate current mission systems and programs into a single user interface. Crosby said CP CE is on the verge of receiving a critical decision from the Army this month as to whether or not it has passed all of its tests and can be used by soldiers in combat. The Army has been trying to incorporate a DevOps process for CP CE using a variety of units to experiment with the capability that can provide direct feedback on the system to the program office. However, one of the key lessons they learned, according to Crosby, was they used too many test units: six in total. “With that many partners trying to do all the exercises that those different level echelon commands and organizations wanted to do, that piece became untenable,” he said. “I think at least for our portfolio, somewhere around three is a much better level.” Similarly, Crosby noted that the difficulty with mission command is each commander has their own way of performing it. As the Army was trying to come up with a common solution for all units with CP CE, they had to make sure they tailored the capability for the Army rather than an individual commander they received feedback from during the developmental process. https://www.c4isrnet.com/show-reporter/c4isrnet-conference/2019/06/07/the-army-wants-a-singular-focus-not-one-off-solutions/

  • Canada’s vision for a resilient North American trade relationship

    23 mars 2022 | Information, Autre défense

    Canada’s vision for a resilient North American trade relationship

    Mary Ng outlines the benefits of the unique trilateral relationship between Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Toutes les nouvelles