Description: You always expect a good deal from construction whether, as a customer, you buy from the industry or, as a supplier, you trade your services and products within it. Sadly you don’t get always get what you expect. However, several recent initiatives have sought to improve the performance and reliability of construction, resulting in a radically improved method of business called “benefit trading”. In this method, each of the key construction participants trade the benefits they can offer for fair reward. This publication outlines the simple and exciting essentials of benefit trading, and offers clear best practice guidance to all individuals or organisations which use or provide construction services. It comprises an instruction booklet, notes for six training modules, a video and a complete PowerPoint presentation and set of course notes on floppy disk. It is designed to be used in conjunction with C526, the best practice guide which demonstrates how to obtain value by negotiation and the application of benefit trading to the construction supply chain. It explains the fundamental principles of benefit trading, identifies the key steps, and shows how the process can be best used and then reviewed to ensure that valuable lessons are learned for future business. The best practice guide (C526) and training pack (C527TP) can together be used to provide comprehensive, customized and highly beneficial sessions for all types of trading organisations.

Keywords: organisational innovation, project management, procurement, supply chain management