Services Supply Chain in the Department of Defense: Drivers of Acquisition Management Practices in the Army

Abstract

In this research, we reviewed contract files and interviewed subject matter experts to collect and analyze data regarding the Army's contract and management practices in the acquisition of services. We examined 154 contracts for four specific service types at eight U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) organizations. The goal was to answer three research questions: (1) Do the contract characteristics differ for different types of services? (2) Do the types of services being acquired affect the management practices being used? and (3) Does the capacity for carrying out acquisition-related work affect the management practices being used? The evaluation of the six contract characteristics revealed that a relationship exists between service type and three of the contract characteristics: contract cost, number of modifications, and contract award strategies. The evaluation of the 13 management practices showed that a relationship exists between service type and five of the management practices: the use of independent government estimates (IGEs), the number of personnel assigned to a contract, the officer serving as the acquisition lead, the use of a quality assurance surveillance plan (QASP), and the use of an IGE for contracts valued over the simplified acquisition threshold. Our research findings also suggest that a relationship exists between capacity and management practices, although further research is needed to confirm this relationship. Based on the findings, we make several specific recommendations to the U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command for improving efficiency and effectiveness in the acquisition of these four specific service types.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 13, 2012
Accession Number
ADA570583

Entities

People

  • Aruna U. Apte
  • Rene G. Rendon
  • Uday M. Apte

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Contract Administration
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Electronic Mail
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Logistics
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Acquisition
  • Organizational Structure
  • Procurement
  • Supply Chain
  • Supply Chain Management

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Theoretical Analysis.