Appendix One Methodology

The following table provides a brief description of the methods used in the study. Full details of our methodology can be found at Appendix 3 published on the NAO website www.nao.org.uk/commercialskills09_scope.

Methodology	Use of evidence in report
Development of a commercial skills framework.	Identification of commercial skills needed to deliver complex projects and assessment of OGC skills frameworks' completeness.
Analysis of over 50 NAO and PAC reports on complex projects published between 2001 and the present.	Identification and understanding of commercial skills gaps in central government, and the barriers to addressing them.
Analysis of 16 PCRs and 12 MPRG reviews.
A focus group with seven SROs of complex projects.
Semi-structured interviews with 14 senior executives of major private sector contractors, and four consultancies.
Discussion forums with the CBI and the Major Projects Association.
A review of academic and government literature on commercial skills and complex projects.
Interviews with seven complex government project teams.	Understanding the challenges in putting together complex project teams in government.
Survey of all departments' commercial directors or heads of procurement, followed by a focus group with six of the 16 and three in-depth interviews.	Identification and understanding of commercial skills gaps in central government, and the barriers to addressing them. Gathering evidence on departmental and OGC initiatives aimed at improving commercial skills, and empirical data on departments' commercial units.
Meetings with OGC and review of GPS council minutes.	Understanding and assessing the OGC's initiatives, programmes, frameworks, and performance measurement.
Review of empirical data on commercial staff salaries from Croner, OGC and ONS.	Calculation of the difference in salary between different government departments and the public and private sector.
Interviews with Siemens, BT, Local Partnerships, Shareholder Executive, TPR, Regional Development Agencies, and public bodies in other countries.	To explore other organisations' efforts to improve commercial skills.