Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Sharing best practice across a programme enhances delivery across
teams in a shared learning environment, to the mutual benefi t of client
and supply chain alike.
Although benchmarking and sharing good practice across a programme
may be seen as a threat by some, the argument in favour is that a pro-
gramme of ten projects would not be seen as successful, if only nine out
of ten of the projects met the requirements of the client. Performance
improvement is driven by competition across the supply chain for a
programme in terms of transparency of performance, peer pressure and
the promise of rewards for good performance. Measuring performance
using the same criteria of a client's critical success factors across a
number of teams and timeframes allows comparisons of projects to be
made and assists in achieving overall programme success.
Using balanced scorecards to communicate values and
measure performance
A balanced scorecard is used to communicate the values of a client to
the supply chain. The scorecard sets out a large number of aims and
objectives on a grid or matrix. The ODA developed the scorecard shown
in Figure 3.5, which highlights the priority themes and a number of
critical success factors for delivering the objectives and ultimately
the ODA's stated mission. Each of these objectives and critical success
factors is underpinned by a standard set of key performance indica-
tors (KPIs), which are measured and used to manage performance during
delivery.
The aims are prioritised or balanced in terms of their relative impor-
tance by weighting each objective. The balanced scorecard is divided
into detailed areas for testing during procurement, with points awarded
for each question, weighted according to its relative importance to the
client. Each contractor is assessed or rated against the scorecard and can
then be compared with all the other bidders to identify the strengths
and weaknesses of each.
Several key themes are shown in the balanced scorecard in Figure 3.5,
including costs, which need to be suffi cient to facilitate cooperation
within the supply chain and provide enough incentive to deliver client
values. Costs should be managed collaboratively and the specifi c require-
ments defi ned accordingly. A second theme involves timing or schedul-
ing to ensure that supply and delivery are aligned to a master schedule,
