Graduate education and research: Key to procurement transformation

Abstract

Faced with the challenges of the global war on terrorism and the fiscal battles of budget cuts and resource constraints, the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to rely on its procurement process to ensure a continuous fl ow of critical supplies and services. In the fi scal year budget for 2005, the DOD proposed $143.8 billion for research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E), and for the procurement of defense-related supplies and services in support of the national military strategy. 1 As the DOD continues to acquire increasingly critical and complex supplies and services in such a turbulent environment, its reliance on a clear acquisition process will continue to increase in importance. The DOD's current process is undergoing a transformation similar to the commercial sector's, changing the way organizations manage their procurement function to include people, processes, practices, and policies. The procurement function is gaining enhanced status as leading organizations, including the DOD, understand and realize its importance in achieving organizational strategic objectives and securing a competitive advantage. In addition to the procurement process transformation, the DOD is also responding to this turbulent environment on another front--that of providing formal graduate level education to its military and civilian acquisition professionals, as well as conducting extensive research in the area of acquisition and contracting for DOD customers. This article will discuss how the DOD is leveraging its resources at the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) to transform military and civilian acquisition professionals.