Managing the Service Supply Chain in the Department of Defense: An Empirical Study of Current Management Practices

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Authors
Apte, Aruna U.
Rendon, Rene G.
Apte, Uday
Subjects
Service Supply Chain
Service Supply Chain, Services Acquisition, Service Lifecycle,''Contract Management, Project Management, Program Management
Advisors
Date of Issue
2008-10-01
Date
01-Oct-08
Publisher
Language
Abstract
This paper presents the results of our ongoing research on the management of services acquisition in the Department of Defense. In this empirical study we developed and used a web-based survey to collect data on the acquisition strategy, procurement methods, and contract types used at Air Force and Navy installations. Specifically, we studied the current management practices in such areas as life cycle approach, project management, organization/management structure, and training provided to services acquisition personnel. We find that the majority of the services contracts awarded and administered conformed to our expectation. For example, most service contracts are competitively bid, fixed-priced awards without any type of contract incentive. However, we found that the Air Force and Navy use different contracting approaches''specifically in the areas of organizational level of acquisition offices (regional versus installation), the use of project teams, leaders of the acquisition effort (program personnel versus contracting officers), and managers of the services requirement (program personnel, contracting officers, and customer organizations). We analyzed the implications and impact of different approaches on the effectiveness of the contract management process and make recommendations on improving the management of services acquisition in the Department of Defense.
Type
Technical Report
Description
Sponsored Report (for Acquisition Research Program)
Department
Acquisition Management
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
NPS-AM-08-137
Sponsors
Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Program
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights