Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
importantly to large tier 1 contractors - the prospect of greater profi ts,
repeat work and the potential for sustaining the growth of previous
years. The appetite of contractors for the ODA's emerging project oppor-
tunities was therefore a major challenge confronting both the ODA and
their delivery partner right from the outset. It appeared at best that
contractors would be reluctant to enter into any dialogue with the ODA,
and at worst would not even respond to any procurement opportunities
associated with the Olympic programme. These were the circumstances
that acted as the catalyst to produce the PSE approach.
Procurement organisation structure -
the Olympic Delivery Authority
In 2006 the challenge was to set up a method of procurement that would
meet all the strategic goals and surpass all the critical success factors
required to deliver the ODA's value-for-money criteria. To achieve those
ends, overall responsibility for the procurement function at the Olympic
Delivery Authority (ODA) rested with the ODA Head of Procurement, to
whom the delivery partner's (CLM) Head of Procurement reported. The
DP's Head of Procurement managed two main functional streams: the
programme procurement's strategic and operational teams. The pro-
gramme supply chain management team was part of, and contributed to,
both these functional streams. The procurement organisation within the
ODA took the form of a classic matrix management structure, in which
centralised specialist functions supported multiple individual projects.
The matrix structure is commonly used in best-practice organisations,
as it helps to maintain consistency and capture best practice, while allow-
ing a high degree of fl exibility. Figure 1.2 shows how the programme
procurement-level specialist functions, strategy and governance, opera-
tions and support and supply chain management and assurance, supported
the project-level procurements. In the case of programme supply chain
management, their involvement went beyond procurement and infl u-
enced the delivery - hence the term 'Supplier Engineering'.
Roles and responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities for procurement staff were defi ned within
detailed job descriptions. These job descriptions, as well as defi ning the
