The Big White Elephant: 'Contract Management state of mind and road forward'

March 2015

Abstract

I have worked in in-house legal departments as an in-house lawyer for almost 10 years in various industries both on the customer side as well as the supplier side mainly within procurement and was actively involved in kick-starting Contract Management as a discipline in Denmark with the establishment of the Danish Contract Management Association, closely linked to the global organization within the area of Contract and Commercial Management, IACCM. Contract Management has developed significantly over the last 3-5 years and is today a well-known discipline, widely referenced and used by companies and practitioners globally but what is the state of mind for Contract Management, how far have we come in actually implementing Contract Management in organizations? In order to answer that question is it first of all necessary to look into the definition of Contract Management.

Author

Martin Lønstrup

Head of Compliance, Falck Global Assistance A/S, Denmark

Martin Lonstrup is a Danish Lawyer, having worked with contract management and legal for the last 10 years, founded the Danish Contract Management Association (DCMA), former Chairman of DCMA. Worked in various related roles from Head of Legal, to Legal Counsel and Contract Manager, Senior Legal Advisor in Maersk Oil Houston to now working in Maersk Oil Corp Legal Compliance as Senior Legal Counsel and experienced in contracting from various aspects with focus on procurement. Martin worked with operational contract lifecycle management in different companies and industries, implemented legal department governance models, policies, CM processes, CM tools, compliance, legal processes ensuring better use of contracts, financial optimization, and clear overview of contracts. Most recently in the role as Senior Legal Counsel and Business Lead on implementing a new contract management tool in the Maersk Group globally before moving to a new position within the Maersk Group in Maersk Oil Houston and latest Maersk Oil Corp Legal Compliance. He has developed the new Contract Management process model, the Contract Puzzle – a new and improved way to think Contract Management, allowing any organization to work with Contract Management without having to prepare an extensive business case to begin with. This process model gets Contract Management out of the shade of theory and ensures that it’s tangible to everyone, step by step enabling the organization to visualize the process for management in a concise and clear way.

Company

Falck Global Assistance A/S

Falck’s activities are directed at preventing accidents and disease; providing assistance in situations of emergency, accidents and need; and helping people move on with their lives after illness or accidents. Falck has business activities in 44 countries on six continents. In 22 countries Falck provides ambulance services to the general public in close collaboration with the authorities. Operating more than 2500 ambulances, Falck has the world’s largest international ambulance fleet. And with fire-fighting services in several countries worldwide, Falck is also the world’s largest provider of fire services. Globally, Falck is a leader in rescue and safety courses, especially for staff in the offshore and maritime sector. At 37 training centres in 19 countries on five continents, Falck trains clients to take care of themselves and their colleagues.

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