Exam 14: Contract Management

In a systems outsourcing situation, acceptance test criteria can only be determined after issuing the contract as actual operating conditions cannot be specified until the system is fully operational.

The _____ clause of a contract specifies whether the buyer, if he or she becomes aware of any technology or cost improvements of other products in the market, he or she can share this information with the supplier, and how the supplier should act on this information.

Under a fixed-price contract, increasing factor market prices will place more risk on the purchasing organization whereas decreasing such prices will shift the contract economic risk to the supplying organization.

The use of automated online catalogs by major suppliers of MRO items allows users to buy directly from blanket orders and national contracts from their desktops.

The ____ clause of a contract defines what is in and out of scope, which might include the geographical limitations, the validity or invalidity of prior contracts, preferential treatment by the supplier, or other elements.

_____ is defined as the submission of a disagreement to one or more impartial persons with the understanding that the parties will abide by the decision.

Once a contract has been negotiated and signed, the real work is over.

One of the leading causes for failure of systems contracts is that purchasers get locked into price structures that do not adequately reflect changes that have occurred since the agreement was originally signed.

[A/An] _____ is a form of presentation, involving an exchange of information between managers from each organization involved in the dispute.

The _____ clause of a contract specifies the terms for supply and delivery of the product or service.

A/An _____ is defined as a contract purchase that is routinely made over a relatively limited time horizon, typically one year or less.

Even when there is no contract, most transactions are covered by a "gap filler" known as the Uniform Commercial Code.

Cost-sharing contracts are especially important during a period when raw material prices are decreasing.

A major concern with many outsourced systems contracts today is that much of this work is going overseas to countries such as India.

Most commonly used contracts are developed from earlier contracts that are subsequently modified to fit the situation at hand.

In the _____ approach to a systems supplier's level of service, the service provider and the client company share resources and operational control over the outsourced service.

In the _____ approach to a systems supplier's level of service, the outsource service supplier takes on only two or three small functions from the client, using a stepping stone approach.

In [the] _____, a court refers a pending lawsuit between the parties to a private, neutral party who conducts a "trial" as though it were conducted in a real court.

Once a long-term contract with a supplier has been executed, it is much more difficult (and expensive) to switch suppliers.

A/An _____ specifies that the buyer will buy a certain amount of goods and services for the duration of the agreement.