In collaboration with KPMG Law, World Commerce & Contracting (WorldCC) surveyed executives from across the globe, gathering insights into the process of contracting across industries ― and how to fix perennial and costly problems in the contract development process.
- Almost 90 percent of organisations have ineffective and fragmented contracting processes
- 76 percent of organisations want to prioritise digitalisation of contracts
- A potential solution lies in setting up an “Office of Contracting”
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a significant problem with contracts, as revealed by a report released by World Commerce & Contracting (WorldCC) and KPMG Law, entitled Can the contracting process improve without an owner?
For decades, organisations have tried to simplify the contract process―testing and implementing contract management tools and systems, but to little effect. Now, as digitalisation gathers pace, streamlining the contract process is a major priority. As the report makes clear, this issue is not isolated to one business or industry type. It is a global problem that is slowing organisations down.
“Contracts directly impact the health and wealth of every organisation. Yet, for all their importance, on average, contracts suffer more than 9 percent value erosion,” says Jason McQuillen, a partner in KPMG Law in Australia, head of its Legal Operations Transformation business and report co-author. “They only gain executive attention when things go wrong, and the focus is on who to blame. The dominant, widely acknowledged reason for this is simple: no one owns the contract delivery process.”
Only 10.8 percent of organisations consider their end-to-end contracting process to be “very effective.” As one research respondent commented, “Getting a contract is like having a root canal.” Cost was also an area of contention among respondents, with the least efficient processes reportedly averaging more than US$10,000 per contract, simply for reviewing and processing activities.
Tim Cummins, WorldCC President and report co-author, comments: “Contracting has never been addressed effectively. The report highlights a clear frustration with departments involved in the contracting process, lengthy cycle times, and CEOs believe they are losing money.”
Focus on digitalisation
Digitalisation of the contracting process is now a priority for 76 percent of respondents, yet only 26 percent of respondents believe that their technology team is well equipped to support their digitalisation initiative. Digitalisation alone cannot fix the broader issues.
“I’m optimistic that the impact of the pandemic will encourage organisations to change things, and digitalising contracting is now a business priority,” says Nicola Brooks, Director for KPMG Law in the UK, head of its Legal Operations Transformation business and report co-author. “But most organisations will not succeed by focusing on this in isolation. Rather, to succeed, organisations need to have an operating model as part of this.”
What’s the solution?
The report concludes that sustained progress and improving the quality of the contracting process depends on achieving a single point of process ownership and accountability. WorldCC and KPMG Law say that introducing an ‘Office of Contracting’ within each organisation is the solution to tackling a fragmented and costly process. The OOC would be a small group responsible for all contracts across the enterprise and the process surrounding it. They would work in harmony with the multiple functions, coordinating and coalescing.
Stuart Fuller, Global Head of Legal Services at KPMG, concludes: “The WorldCC and KPMG Law report shows that there is a clear problem in the contracting process. The solution needs clear ownership within the organisation, and external support from trusted advisers with real, global experience in this critical area for business, who can drive value creation and end the value erosion.”
