Accurate estimating is NOT marketing and selling. Marketing and selling requires the project manager and their firm to successfully compel the customer to partner with them in providing services for the project.
The following events transpired in your health care business unit in the attempt to secure a large hospital project at the University of California, San Francisco.
After reading the ruling from the court on the Schram Case do the following:
1. Identify explicitly how Southland (mechanical contractor) successfully strategized how to win the project in question with DPR (general contractor). a. What was their bid strategy? b. Why was it successful…why did it resonate with DPR?
2. What was Schram’s claim based upon? a. What was Schram’s approach to being the successful bidder on the job? b. What specific complaint did they have?
3. Why did the court end up ruling in Schram’s favor? 4. Southland wasn’t the only firm to approach the bid in the way that it did, so did ACCO. Evaluate the way these firms bid the project and explain: a. Is the way that Southland and ACCO approached the bid a reasonable and strategic means of winning a competitively bid public works project? b. Schram clearly had a successful legal complaint — they won…but is this just sour grapes…they weren’t as strategic, they lost at bid time…so they sued?
5. As the Estimator/Project Manager for Southland how should you proceed in the future?
Sample Solution
