Contract Management Optimization in an International Financial Institution
Bernal Pavon, Daniel (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504277857
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504277857
Tiivistelmä
This thesis aimed to optimize the contract management of consultancy services within an international financial institution through the application of action research principles. Contract management is a critical business function whose successful performance facilitates the achievement of strategic objectives in any organization.
With the purpose of developing a plan to enhance the contract management performance, the thesis explored the theoretical background for identifying and utilizing different approaches in contract management and success factors of change management. Moreover, specialized guides and tools from other public institutions were revised in order to provide ideas for the case organization.
The current state analysis mostly relied on the internal interviews, internal document analysis, and data provided by the organization’s IT systems, as well as was extended with web-based surveys for project managers and professionals from other organizations, which provided solid foundation to assess the existing practices and identify their strengths and weaknesses. This approach also helped to refine the research problem. According to the findings, the quality of the data registered in the management system by the project managers implementing the contracts affected several business areas, such as compliance with regulations, budget planning, lifecycle monitoring, reporting and risk control. Therefore, the research objectives sought to raise awareness and knowledge, improve communication and establish a strategy for the case organization’s contract management.
The development work, although only partially completed, resulted in a draft contract management strategy and a set of activities that targeted the identified weaknesses, namely training sessions, revised guidance material, and a communication plan that established new working dynamics. The impact of the intervention was measured against the selected KPIs that demonstrated the optimization of two key elements of contract management in the case organization, data quality and communication efficacy.
With the purpose of developing a plan to enhance the contract management performance, the thesis explored the theoretical background for identifying and utilizing different approaches in contract management and success factors of change management. Moreover, specialized guides and tools from other public institutions were revised in order to provide ideas for the case organization.
The current state analysis mostly relied on the internal interviews, internal document analysis, and data provided by the organization’s IT systems, as well as was extended with web-based surveys for project managers and professionals from other organizations, which provided solid foundation to assess the existing practices and identify their strengths and weaknesses. This approach also helped to refine the research problem. According to the findings, the quality of the data registered in the management system by the project managers implementing the contracts affected several business areas, such as compliance with regulations, budget planning, lifecycle monitoring, reporting and risk control. Therefore, the research objectives sought to raise awareness and knowledge, improve communication and establish a strategy for the case organization’s contract management.
The development work, although only partially completed, resulted in a draft contract management strategy and a set of activities that targeted the identified weaknesses, namely training sessions, revised guidance material, and a communication plan that established new working dynamics. The impact of the intervention was measured against the selected KPIs that demonstrated the optimization of two key elements of contract management in the case organization, data quality and communication efficacy.