Contract and Procurement Module Assignment Research has suggested that procurement performances will depend also on the

performance of partnership organizations. It is only when partnerships are developed will result in higher performances. Liang-Chieh Cheng, Edward E. Carrillo, (2012) conducted research on the effects of a commercial partnership in a project-type supply chain and their finding suggested that manufacturing industry have to develop partnership with their suppliers in other for both the individual firms and in particular the whole supply chain to achieve higher performance. Partnerships can go a long way especially when it is true that every organization one way or another have to buy goods or need services. This is particular true for project based large multinational (with centralized corporate procurement and large multinational organization (with centralized business unit procurement, all need to procure goods and services to support their operations. Each organization has different methods have to procure goods and services. For instance, the United Nations is multinational organizations that have different operational/ project units but procurement activities are centralized. At the corporate headquarters New York for instance, all the different operational/ or project units including their field mission operations (another unit/ or project) procure their goods and services through the centralized division in New York. In other words, all major purchasing of goods and services have to be approved by New York. Research has proven that procurement activities can have significant impacts on project performance criteria. In their interesting research on: How cooperative procurement procedures can impact construction project performance; the authors- Per Erik Eriksson and Mats Westerberg, (2011), suggested that cooperative procurement procedures can have positive influences on project performance. I think that this can be achieved through effectives collaborations between the parties involved. Collaborations across organizational level have in recent years drew greater attention. This has becomes true in the case of supply chain organizations where collaborations have been more focused in joint planning, coordinating, process integrating among suppliers, customers, and other partnership in the supply chain. Tim McLaren, Milena Head, Yufei Yuan, (2002) stated that collaborations among partners in project team, procurement teams, and the suppliers could produce costs benefits advantage for all. These benefits include cost reductions, increase return on assets, and increase reliability and responsiveness to market needs, (McLaren, Head and Yuan, (2002). Collaborations between project team and the procurement team are paramount for the benefits of their individual organization. Robert J. Hairston, (2005) wrote that, a

relationship between the project management process and the procurement process can enhances maximum value for the procurement organization, as well as by creating the road map for cross-functional team leadership and participation. I thank it is fair to say that due to the technology advancement, collaboration effort has becomes much easier. Many software applications have even made the collaborations among project managers and the procurement managers easier. Software like Microsoft Project, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), ect, have all enhances collaborative efforts in most today organizations. At the United Nations for instance, all projects unit and the procurement unit are using what they call the Caliloe system not only for inventories management but also to performance procurement activates. Further research is needed to elaborate more on these collaborative tools listed above. References: Cheng, L-C.V. & Carrillo, E.E., (2012), Assessing supplier performances under partnership in project-type procurement. Industrial Management & Data Systems. Vol. 112 (2). Pp.290 312 Eriksson, P.E., and Westerberg, M., (2011), Effects of cooperative procurement procedures on construction project performance: A conceptual framework. International Journal of Project Management, vol 29 (2), pp. 197208 Hairston, R., J., (2005), Integrating procurement & project management. 90 Th, Annual International Supply Management Conference McLaren, T., Head, M., & Yuan, Y., (2002), Supply chain collaboration alternatives: understanding the expected costs and benefits. Internet Research, Vol. 12 (4), pp.348 364 United Nations, (2010). United Nations Procurement Manual [Online]. Available from: http://www.un.org/Depts/ptd/pdf/pmrev6.pdf. (Accessed: December 25, 2012)