please write 100 words response each for each of my peers post
1)In the movie clip, the two main characters are caught between a rock and a hard place. They are cornered by an adversary with no where left to run except for a steep dive into a raging river below. This is a great example of the textbook’s fundamental equation for change.
The pain of the status quo is greater than the status of the unknown future. In this case, the status quo is the predicament the main characters are in. They are brought to a cliff’s edge by a dangerous opponent where they will likely lose if confronted. The unknown future is what they can do differently to change their situation. They can either confront the adversary or make an attempt at escape at the only way out. The change that results from this equation is them making a jump into the river to escape.
The second character, the one who suggests jumping, elevates the pain of the status quo by saying that the adversary will definitely kill them if they stay. He decreases the pain of the unknown future by saying they will only maybe die if they jump. The main character who is hesitant to jump, attempts to rebut that unknown future because he can’t swim. The second character reduces the pain of that unknown future by saying that they will probably die from the fall before they ever die from drowning.
The communication between the two main characters helps the audience understand the thought process behind their decisions. The pain of the status quo is the main catalyst for change since they do not want to confront their opponent. The pain of the unknown future includes the possibility of drowning or dying from the fall. The consequences from the unknown future is less severe than the status quo which leads to the main characters jumping.
2)This clip of the video was interesting and I had heard a bit about it. After watching the video clip segment from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the concept that I thought applied to the scene is the Robust Decision-Making. In our reading this week from Chapter 9 it states that “in short, robust decision-making demands a clear separation between identifying the problem and solving the problem. Why? This provides the necessary guidance to know when to debate and when to seek consensus, when to synthesize and when to analyze, and when to dream and when to plan. The robust decision-making model embodies the “for everything there is a season” philosophy” (Clampitt, 2016). The author goes on to use the example of fall explain that “when the leaves fall, we know that autumn is near. But with decision-making, there are no overt indicators—budding leaves don’t appear to signal the need to transition between the phases and modes of problem solving” (Clampitt, 2016).
When it comes to the scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, involved both Sundance and Butch, speaking back and forth on making a decision whether to jump or not to jump. Butch felt that they only had one choice which was to jump otherwise he felt that both would be killed. Butch finds out that Sundance could not swim and felt it was rather comical that he couldn’t swim. Eventually the two come to an agreement of what they felt was the better decision which was to jump and face the consequences from the fall versus risking their chances of being killed. I don’t know what I would have done in that situation given the circumstances.
Clampitt, P. G. (2016). Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness: Challenges | Strategies | Solutions (6th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.
3)Payment is often tied to contract closure because it is the legal document that binds both parties. A conference paper by Brannan and Lee (2007) expresses that a contract is a mutual legal understanding between company and vendor. It is the agreement to perform a service and the obligation to pay for such service being performed. Payment should be tied to contract closure because the purpose of a contract is to explicitly outline the expectations and responsibilities that each party has toward a project. Contacts also define the payments terms and the services that are included in the service being offered. From the company’s point of view, a contract provides that security blanket that a service will be provided. On the other hand, from the vendor’s end, it guarantees payment and contract closure.
The project’s contract will determine if additional payment is required. Agreements usually lay out the cost of resources and the available support for the project. The contract will guide the extra cost if the company wants to include any additional scope in the project. The contract should also include the mutual agreement clause where both parties clearly state the definition of a terminated project and what happens if either party is not content with the results.
In my opinion, payment should be tied to contract closure as it confirms that the vendor’s responsibilities have been fulfilled, and it is the company’s turn to fulfill their contractual obligation. Research shows that there are different methods of payment that contracts can have. An alternative approach would be to make smaller contracts or sub-projects that allow the company to review if the project is on track or change the vendor. Nevertheless, even with these smaller contracts, payment is still associated with completed progress and should be remunerated.
References:
Brannan, L. & Lee, W. (2007). Contracts—from the vendor and the buyer point of views. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2007—North America, Atlanta, GA. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute
4)I am surprised with this question. This question had never crossed my mind. I assumed that every time a contract was closed, it was assumed that payment had been completed.
Researching the topic payment and contract closure, I found a lot of articles related to the need to be careful with contract closures. I found one article from Villanova University (Villanova University, 2021). In the article, they write: “Contract closeout is the process of resolving all contract issues or fulfilling contract requirements. Contract managers might need to accept supplies, and contractors might need to still deliver services or meet unresolved work statement requirements. It’s essential to do this before final payment is made.”
Another article (Lucid Content Team, 2020) reviews all the steps needed to “close a project.” They have a checklist with their recommendations to complete the closing of the project:
Formally transfer all deliverables
Confirm project completion
Review all contracts and documentation
Release resources
Conduct post-mortem
Archive documentation
Celebrate
The article mentions that the review of the final payment and completion of all contracts should happen between 3 and 4 items.
After reading the articles, I think payment should be a very important of the closure of the project. The sponsor should be clear that they have all deliverables, they have signed on the deliverables and are satisfied with the project. The team completing the project should review all contracts, documentation, need for follow-up, insurance needs, archive documentation based on the need to keep documents (different organizations have different retention policies). For example, in medicine, we are supposed to keep medical records of patients for at least 10 years. I also read that occasionally the team needs to give the money back if they had extra payments when audited. The last part of the checklist is the one I look forward for every time: Celebration. Most of the projects I have worked in the past have been with community members, so we got to eat and dance at the end of the project. The topic of final payment should be in the mind of the sponsor and the teams working on the project from the Initiation of the project.
Bibliography
Lucid Content Team. (2020). Blog – Nailing the project management closure process. Retrieved from Lucidchart.com: https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/nailing-the-project-management-closure-process
Villanova University. (2021, January 6). Contract Closeout Process. Retrieved from Villanovau.com: https://www.villanovau.com/resources/contract-management/contract-closeout-process/
