Summary:

This study examines possible factors that could influence contracting in the Norwegian Defence Force. A survey was distributed to all the project leaders in the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation, which were answered by 70 % of these. The main areas covered in the survey were; contract specification, types of contracts used, the influence of thrust, the importance of asset specificity and skills, re-imbursement and uncertainty. The main findings are listed:

 Trust, asset specificity and the possibility of re-imbursement seems to have no impact on specification or the choice of contract types.

 Technical uncertainty is surprisingly low in the procurement projects and high level of uncertainty resulted in a less specified contracts

 High availability on both skilled contracting personnel and personnel covering all aspects in the project made it possible to secure the contract more easily using less effort to maintain a high level of specification.

 The contracts used by the Norwegian Defence Force seem to be highly specified, and higher specification induces more use of fixed price contracts.

The Norwegian Defence Force has a suited system for contracting and project management. Even though fixed-price contracts are mostly used, the background seems to be a result of regulations, forcing the project personnel to consider all aspects concerning the procurement.