Non-price selection is essentially a qualitative process based on written submissions and observations of team behaviours. The opportunities to differentiate occur in a limited period which affords the Owner limited opportunity to adequately assess their potential as an alliance partner.
The only opportunity Proponents have to differentiate themselves after the initial proposal submission is the initial selection phase of interviews, workshops, scenarios and roleplaying exercises. If not properly managed, this is likely to lead to staged or coached behaviours and does not provide opportunity for the team to demonstrate their ability to innovate based on outputs produced or their project management skills. Figure 21 reveals the limited opportunities afforded in non-price selection for effective Proponent differentiation.
Competent construction project and commercial management skill sets are essential to successfully manage difficult projects of the type suited to alliance contracts. It is a very difficult challenge to adequately demonstrate those in non-price selection. Therefore it is essential that the process is sufficiently thorough, of sufficient duration and evaluated with real expertise. The evalution panel will require superior skills in judging the potential capability of the individuals and teams, both technically and behaviourally. They are likely to also require expert support in assessing behaviours and performance potential. Owners should exercise great care in selecting NOPs based on brief interactions, interviews and workshops. The types of interactions found in full and partial price selection allows a better evaluation of the non-price attributes the Owner should be seeking in a successful alliance Proponent.
Furthermore, this selection process does not incentivise the Proponents to bring forward innovations or opportunities prior to finalising the TOC. Innovations that come to light post- TOC provide NOPs entitlements to the benefit of any cost savings in connection with those innovations. For an Owner, however every $2 saved through innovations pre-TOC is worth only $1 saved through innovations post TOC.