Contracting: A Systematic Body of Knowledge.

Abstract

This thesis attempts to develop a systematic body of knowledge for the Federal acquisition contracting discipline. A general definition, as well as five critical attributes considered necessary for the formulation of a body of knowledge are identified and discussed. These are then applied to the contracting discipline in order to compile a body of knowledge for this specific field. The thesis effort concludes that the contracting discipline possesses rudimentary elements of the requisite attributes to support a specific body of knowledge. The present acquisition contracting body of knowledge however, is not well organized and is deficient in many respects. Recommendations and areas for further research complete the research effort. One step toward improving the level of quality requires establishing the Federal acquisition workforce as a professional rather than an administrative series by the Office of Personnel Management. Designation as a professional series by OPM requires the profession to have a defined body of knowledge. To date the Federal acquisition workforce does not.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA193531

Entities

People

  • Connie L. Thornton

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Business Administration
  • Classification
  • Commerce
  • Contracts
  • Engineers
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Law
  • Management Personnel
  • Operations Management
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Social Sciences
  • Systems Engineering
  • Systems Management
  • Test And Evaluation

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Theoretical Analysis.