ABSTRACT
The acquisition phase is the period when the project develops actions related to negotiations with vendors. The acquisition phase often extends for a long period of time; a significant portion may take place in parallel with the execution of the project. The acquisition process is highly pressured by the price variable. It is part of the culture of procurement departments to consider cost as the most important decision variable because, in general, their goals are related to the savings that result and not necessarily the objective of a project. It is up to the change management team to discuss with the procurement department the need to take into account, when selecting vendors, not only technical criteria and price, but also the cultural factors. The process of selecting vendors should already take into account their cultural profile. Even if the vendor's culture has already been mapped, the vendor's performance will depend on the team that will work on the project.
