What is Contract Management

Hi,

I don't know if this is the right forum to post this question. If not, please direct me to the appropriate forum for doing so and I will.

My question is about the definition of Contract Management. Where can I find the most complete and correct definitions for Contract Management? I'm a student at Elon University and I'm doing a paper on the meaning, implications, and practices of Contract Management in professional organizations, such as companies and government organizations.

So far, the most complete definition I've found seems to be the one provided by the International Foundation for Information Technology (IF4IT)… (Contract Management: http://www.if4it.com/SYNTHESIZED/GLO...anagement.html)

This definition breaks Contract Management into 4 categories…

1. Contract Management as a Professional Discipline
2. Contract Management as a set of Solutions
3. Contract Management as a set of Processes
4. Contract Management as an Enterprise Capability

While the definitions provided by the IF4IT seem pretty thorough, the IF4IT doesn't seem to be an organization that focuses on Law as much as it does on Information Technology, so I was wondering if the community could point me to additional Contract Management definitions that I could use, which come from Legal/Law sources.

NOTE: I've tried to use other references, but most don't really give what would be considered "thorough" definitions, especially when you compare them to the components of the definition, above.

Thanks!

I respectfully decline to do your homework.

1) For the record, I have a long list of references and was simply trying to be thorough and look for more.

2) As is taught to us in class, finding alternate sources through collaborative means on the web is not having someone else "do my homework" as I'm the one that has to go through all the references & sources, interpret them, and write the paper.

and

3) Let's face it… youre condescending response is the very example of why people think most lawyers are a waste of oxygen.

Thanks for your effort. Anyone else?

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Quoting Elon.Phoenix

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1) For the record, I have a long list of references and was simply trying to be thorough and look for more.

2) As is taught to us in class, finding alternate sources through collaborative means on the web is not having someone else "do my homework" as I'm the one that has to go through all the references & sources, interpret them, and write the paper.

and

3) Let's face it… you're condescending response is the very example of why people think most lawyers are a waste of oxygen.

Thanks for your effort. Anyone else?

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I would think a super-smart person as yourself would have used the correct "your" instead of "you're".

I'm sure your super-smartness will enable you to please your professors no end.

Thanks for finding the a spelling error that occurred as part of a rushed response. I'm sure you'll be worth your rate.

Having someone else search for references for you and tell you which ones are the most complete and correct is, indeed, doing your homework for you. Your professor does not want our opinions on the subject; he wants yours.

You'll have to clear something up for me.

Contract Management?

Are you referring to a person you hire to manage your contracts?

Or are you referring to a person with whom you have a contract and he performs management duties on your behalf?

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Quoting adjusterjack

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You'll have to clear something up for me.

Contract Management?

Are you referring to a person you hire to manage your contracts?

Or are you referring to a person with whom you have a contract and he performs management duties on your behalf?

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Hi adjusterjack,

I reached out to the Contract "handling" organizations for a couple of larger companies who were kind enough to invite me in and describe what they do and who is involved in doing so. The common description from each of the people I've interviewed is that Contract Management is anything that is done and put in place to support all aspects of a Contract's lifecycle, for "all Contracts" that a company deals with.

So, for example, companies like Bank of America, Merck, or Ford know that they deal with many Contracts, all day, every day. The people, processes, tools, and technologies, they put in place to support Contract related work is all part of Contract Management, as a discipline.

In a very small company, it can be one person who does the work part-time, because the demand for working with Contracts is limited. In a very large enterprise, where Contracts are constantly being worked in some way, shape, or form, hundreds of people can be involved in the support of Contracts, with different people having different roles & responsibilities… Writers/Reviewers/Executors/Supporters/Filers/Archivers/Records Managers/etc.

The reason I originally reached out was because I've gone through a pretty significant number of sources, most of them being Legal Sources. However, what I believe to be the most complete definition (that aligns with the people I've interviewed in these companies) is the one provided by the International Foundation for Information Technology: Contract Management. The majority of the Legal Sources only focus on the "activities" that are executed to support Contracts, while the IF4IT breaks it out into four more specific categorical areas…

1. the professional discipline of dealing with Contracts (i.e. you can become a professional Contract Manager that handles some piece or all pieces of Contract Lifecycle)
2. the processes put in place to support the lifecycles of one or more Contracts (i.e. the activities)
3. the solutions put in place to support the lifecycles of one or more Contracts (i.e. the people, the technologies, the tools, etc.)
4. the enterprise capability put in place to support the lifecycle of one or more Contracts (just like a company performs Marketing, Sales, Product Development, etc.)

I'm just trying to find more sources that support or negate this. Most only support the 2nd and say nothing about the others (neither supporting or negating).

Thanks

Seems to me that Contract Management would not be a profession or discipline in itself but merely an adjunct to a profession or discipline that involves contracts.

A true Contract Manager (one who creates, interprets, and enforces contracts) is called a lawyer.

Anybody else who "manages" contracts is doing so as only one part of his or her duties in his or her job.

I'll give you a couple of examples from my own experiences.

I owned rental properties for twenty years. I drafted my leases, interpreted them, and enforced them. Was I a Contract Manager? No. I was a landlord. Contract management was a part of what I did, but I also did maintenance and repairs (handyman), picked up rent (creditor), did my own taxes (accountant), sued tenants (lawyer), etc.

I was in the insurance industry for most of my working life. I was an underwriter, an agent, and a claims adjuster. Throughout my career I had to be able to understand, interpret, and explain hundreds of types of insurance policies (contracts). Was I a Contract Manager? No. Contract management was only a part of what I did in any of those positions.

And while managing contracts might, indeed, involve all four of the elements that you describe, it is something that is done as a subset of an occupation or position.

After being in the working world for 40+ years, my feeling is that the term "Contract Manager" (with two capital letters) is either academic theory or one of those corporate euphemisms designed to stroke somebody's ego rather than pay them more money.

I realize that you are likely doing this kind of research for school and I respect that. I certainly did my share of research during my college years but learned quickly thereafter that academic theory was a far cry from the reality of the working world.

To support my point I refer you to the US Dept of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics - Standard Occupational Classifications.

"The SOC system is used by Federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. All workers are classified into one of 840 detailed occupations according to their occupational definition. To facilitate classification, detailed occupations are combined to form 461 broad occupations, 97 minor groups, and 23 major groups. Detailed occupations in the SOC with similar job duties, and in some cases skills, education, and/or training, are grouped together."

I challenge you to find "Contract Manager" among the many hundreds of occupational classifications:

http://www.bls.gov/soc/major_groups.htm

Hi Adjusterjack,

Based my discussions with the organizations in some of these larger enterprises, and based on job searches with a number of Search Sites, like Indeed.com or Monster.com, "Contract Manager" or "Contracts Manager" is a real job title and is not always a lawyer. As explained to me by two separate leaders of those Contract Management Organizations (one in a large bank and another in a large Pharma), not all lawyers are good managers or leaders and, in a very large Contract Management Organization, the functions of Contract Management are broken down and assigned to numerous "roles." For example: see the last column in this Contract Management Roles table.

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Quoting adjusterjack

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Anybody else who "manages" contracts is doing so as only one part of his or her duties in his or her job.

I'll give you a couple of examples from my own experiences.

I owned rental properties for twenty years. I drafted my leases, interpreted them, and enforced them. Was I a Contract Manager? No. I was a landlord. Contract management was a part of what I did, but I also did maintenance and repairs (handyman), picked up rent (creditor), did my own taxes (accountant), sued tenants (lawyer), etc.

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While I understand your example, I would suggest looking at it a different way. While you primarily called yourself a Landlord, you were also functioning in multiple simultaneous roles. For example: Yes, you were a Landlord and, yes, you were a Contract Manager and, yes, you were your own Accountant, etc.

Quote:

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Quoting adjusterjack

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To support my point I refer you to the US Dept of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics - Standard Occupational Classifications.

"The SOC system is used by Federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. All workers are classified into one of 840 detailed occupations according to their occupational definition. To facilitate classification, detailed occupations are combined to form 461 broad occupations, 97 minor groups, and 23 major groups. Detailed occupations in the SOC with similar job duties, and in some cases skills, education, and/or training, are grouped together."

I challenge you to find "Contract Manager" among the many hundreds of occupational classifications:

http://www.bls.gov/soc/major_groups.htm

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I get what you're saying but take a look at Indeed.com and Monster.com. Just search for "Contract Manager" or "Contracts Manager" and you'll see a bunch of positions show up. Contract Management Organizations are real and Contract Manager titles are real. And, Contract Managers are not always Lawyers. I can't argue that this is the best way to structure and/or operate or not. However, they are real.

Thanks for your help.