Proactive Contracting

Proactive Contracting is akin to Proactive Law and focuses on the same properties, namely to prevent problems and promote relationships. The legal area of research developed in Scandinavia in the 1990s and has gradually gained attention. Proactive Contracting deals with Contract Management, Relational Management, Risk Management and Business Process Management.

The word proactive is the opposition to reactive and refers to acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes.

A survey conducted by IACCM shows that businesses urge a paradigm shift in contracting, favoring a more relational approach. Thus, the focus of future contracting becomes more relational. Businesses may therefore face increased complexity as trading is done not only across physical boundaries, but also across religious, cultural, and ethical boundaries.

The IACCM survey has underpinned the need for re-thinking contracts and the approach to business relationships, as international, and long relationships, make it hard to draft and agree upon every single event that might occur in the future.

Proactive Contracting is moving away from the path of responding to these complex relationships with complex contracts. However, as it is hard to imagine realistic alternatives to contracts, Proactive Contracting suggest businesses to change perception of contracts to meet the needs of the future. Add to this the increased complexity of products due to technological evolution and it becomes clear that businesses need to actively deal with the danger of increasing complexity and uncertainty. In fact, a survey conducted by IBM Corporation revealed that 79% of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) see increased global complexity as a major challenge over the coming years.

...
Wikipedia