Looking behind the headlines (26 June, page 26), I wonder if BAA is really looking to 鈥渄itch鈥� frameworks or to question how and where they are used and to what effect?

We need to remind ourselves why frameworks were developed in first place: destructive competitive behaviour, fragmentation, adversarialism and not least poor lack of performance were all issues that Latham and Egan strove to overcome.

Reliance on competition alone has failed to deliver in the past. Likewise, frameworks that lack rigour or discipline can create as many problems as they solve. If we are a smart industry, and I still have faith that we are, we can draw lessons from both schools of thought to apply 鈥減erformance-driven鈥� frameworks, involving elements of competitive tension and commercial rigour, otherwise known as carrot and stick. There has to be a business benefit for both sides.

Michael Townsend, chief executive, Earthshine Solutions

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