Proceedings of the 7th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium; Wednesday, Volume I

Abstract

One needs no powers of prophecy to predict that perilous economic times lie ahead for our nation and the rest of the world. While uncertainty surrounds the global economic crisis''how long it will last, for example, and whether conditions will worsen further before they improve''there can be little doubt that national budgets for defense acquisition will experience considerable pressure and quite possibly decline in the coming years. Under such conditions, we may be tempted either to accept with fatalism some reduced level of expectations for acquisition outcomes or, alternatively, to embrace trite exhortations to do more with less. Neither of these is, of course, a tenable position for serious scholars of acquisition. Rather, we ought to continue to seek the best possible understanding of acquisition that will lead to the best possible outcomes given available resources. This entails continued work on what Don Kettl has termed the ''smart buyer'' problem: knowing what to buy, who to buy it from, and how to assess its quality.