SYMPOSIUM
Monday, April 7th
8:30 am - 12:30 pm
The IACCM Academic Forum has been highlighted by many as one of the most fascinating conference sessions they have attended. For most in our community, there is little chance to meet with academics and discover some of the research that is going on in our field. And for the academics, it is often the practitioners who are hidden away.
Each year, the volume and quality of research in the field of contracting, commercial and related legal topics has grown. This is the leading forum for its display, promotion and discussion. Don’t miss it!
08:30 - 08:45
Intro
Session 1 - Defining The Emerging Community and Its Professional Development: Academia & Practitioners Working Together
Lead - David Lowe, Manchester Business School
Pat Shafer, IACCM
At this time of dramatic change in the business environment, the competence to make and manage successful trading relationships is moving to the heart of the business. There is widespread agreement that this demands new skills and more consistent methods and practices. Defining this framework is critical to progress and requires close collaboration between academia and the practitioner community. This session will describe early efforts to define the overall roles of this emerging 'community of practice' and promote a model for professional development through dynamic new approaches to knowledge capture and management.
Discussion items include:
- A new model for individual learning and support of corporate competency in contracting and commercial management
- A new Masters program and MBA designed for our community
- Is there a demand for training programs – and if so, what type and level?
- Developing industry-focused research
- Results of IACCM member survey
Discussion Groups:
- What does industry want from the academic community?
- What role should IACCM play in formulating professional development programs?
09:45 - 10:00
Break
10:00 - 11:00
Session 2 - "Is What We Are Taught In School Causing Confrontational Relationships?" [Who is preventing proactive contracting and relationship management?]
Lead - Tom Barton, California Western School of Law
Jim Groton, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP (retired)
David Munn, Fair Isaac
Nancy Jesson, Huron Consulting Group
Are current Law School programs and procurement programs the problem? Do they cause negative approaches and behaviors that constrain full-value outcomes? While they certainly do not prevent business, the approaches that many organizations take to contract negotiation and management certainly appear to sub-optimize the potential value of results. Is that because others are failing to do their jobs properly, or because we as a community of practice have not moved with the times?
Why isn't the ‘proactive prevention movement’ being embraced more broadly and more quickly?
What will it take to speed up its adoption?
Discussion Groups
- Is current academic training too narrow and reflecting old-style business organization
- What raining would it take to better assess economic value and achieve greater balance in the negotiation and management of trading relationships?
11:00 - 11:15
Break
11:15 - 12:15
Session 3 - "Standards - who, what, when, and where?"
Lead - Rene Franz Henschel, Aarhus School of Business
Tim McCarthy, Rockwell Automation
There are frequent calls for ‘more standards’, yet in many ways our community has either steadfastly resisted them (they destroy judgment, they fail to address circumstances), or has been seen to impose them in a way that creates confrontation and distrust (e-auctions, one-sided or lop-sided risk allocation). Are standards desirable? And how far should they extend?
This concluding session will look at two major areas – the creation of ‘global standard terms and conditions’ and the creation of a consistent ‘capability maturity model’ to assist standard assessment of contracting (commitment management) competence.
Discussion groups
- Should IACCM take this on?
- How would practitioners want to proceed?
12:15 - 12:30
Wrap Up
12:30
Lunch on Own