The care and feeding of vendors and contractors

One of the greatest mistakes made today in many corporations is in the care and feeding of their vendors, contractors, and sub-contractors. In the list of mistakes that can be made, the foremost is failure to recognize, or tending to forget, the difference between independent contractors and employees. Another is failure to clearly define the requirements, and yet expect the contractors to know and perform to the unspoken requirements. The paper discusses some of the issues faced in projects in the use of vendors, contractors, and sub-contractors to complete the work activity. It also discusses some "real world" cases where success depended on maintaining the correct balance and relationship with the outside contractors.