Assignment:
Imagine that you are working on a two-million-dollar procurement for the purchase of vehicles for the fleet of trucks and cars to be used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection. These vehicles will be used for off-road driving on dirt roads in Arizona. Your manager has asked you to select the type of contract to be used for the vehicle purchase.
Choose to respond to this scenario from a government or a contractor perspective. If you select government, then you will complete the assignment as if you are a government employee (or military personnel) receiving the proposal from the contractor. If you select contractor, then you will complete the assignment as if you are a contractor employee submitting a proposal to the government.
Write a four to six (4 to 6) page paper in which you:
1. Examine the types of contracts and performance-based acquisition. Select the type of contract you would like to use for the vehicle purchase. (Dr. Vic's Tips: This assignment is very close to the Db, so I will offer similar tips and hints: You will also want to review Feldman, and Compton. You will need to list, define, discuss and provide examples of the main three offered within the article: Fixed-Price, Cost-Reimbursement, Time-and-Materials (T&M), AND the two offered within Compton p.p. 66-70: Letter Contracts and Indefinite Delivery Contracts - this is a graduate level class...I will be looking for you to discuss all five! Please do so! Please include research from both of our textbooks [interpret, cite and reference]). For Performance-based acquisition, you can also use information from your Week 3 DB as well). Finally, as the question requires, select and explain, the best type of contracts for the trucks and cars for DHS).
2. Evaluate the pros and cons of sealed bidding contracts and negotiated contracts, emphasizing which one would be best for this purchase. (Dr. Vic's Tips, p.p. 53-66 of our Compton text covers both sealed bidding and the negotiation process in depth, please use information from this source as well as of Feldman. For sealed bidding Pros you can certainly discuss their common uses, p.p. 209-210, Feldman, and cons can be from p. 210 as well - second para. Also some of the Conditions for Sealed Bidding on p. of Compton, could be interpreted as either pros or cons. Do the same for the negotiated contract type and then select and explain which type of acquisition would be best for the assignment scenario).
3. Determine the responsibilities of the contracting officer during the proposal evaluation process. (Dr. Vic's Tips: p.p. 55-58 of Compton has information relative to this CO question, also please use information from Feldman, there are many areas within this chapter that will be good to use, for example, the very first para of p. 209, but really the entire chapter has great information to add).
4. Assess the requirements for performance-based acquisitions. (Dr. Vic's Tips: the entirety of Compton will help you answer this question; p. 77 will focus your scope in terms of general requirements. Make sure you discuss SOO and Quality Assurance Plans - see Chapter of Compton. You discussed some of this info within your Week 3 DB).
5. Create requirements for the vehicle purchase that could be included in a performance-based contract with rationale. (Dr. Vic's Tips: now comes the application part of this assignment: remember as Compton p. 76 states, please concentrate on objectives!)
Use at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
- Analyze the acquisition methods, select the type of contract, and determine if a performance- based contract is appropriate.
- Use technology and information resources to research issues in government acquisition.
- Write clearly and concisely about government acquisition using proper writing mechanics.