Management

LO-2 Describe several historical legislative acts that have institutionalized better business practices within the DoD acquisition community.
Here is a link to DOD Best Business Practices. Link
After reviewing the Best Business Practices, find one that you find to be the most important and write about why it is so important.
Write a two-page paper, plus the title page and a reference page. As always, read all the lesson notes before you start this assignment as new or current events may have been updated since the start of class.
Writing Instructions (Please do read this):

•Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
•APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA style and formatting.
•Length of paper: typed, double-spaced pages with no less than a two-page paper.
•Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

ANNSWER

DOD Acquisition Community

The Department of Defense exists as a major sector in the US economy. Its key roles revolve around the coordination and supervision of military and combat activities to secure the nation. This area experiences massive contract-based activities and attracts greater transparency and accountability. The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA) and Federal Acquisition Reform Act of 1996 (FARA) are essential historical legal frameworks that can help the agency to develop efficiency and efficacy in its contracting process. Notably, the “use or lose it” business process can assist it to make adequate use of the resource at hand. Thus, DoD contracts’ success depends on the implementation of FASA, FARA legal frameworks, and the ‘Use or lose it” business practice.

Potential Historical Legislative Acts

Department of Defense (DoD) is portrayed as a complex and challenging segment globally. It attracts applicable legislative acts that can support its operations. One of the viable frameworks to be adopted is the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA), which revolves around restructuring all systems. It offers an opportunity to facilitate better governmental contracting functions. This framework is mainly beneficial when dealing with commercial products in the DoD segment. Mauel (2010) argues that FASA Act establishes a preference for the procurement of commercial items. Individuals handling contracts are better positioned to carry out their mandate with the help of this legal framework. The other essential historical act is the Federal Acquisition Reform Act of 1996 (FARA). Its central target is to eliminate deficiencies that might affect the contracting process. It ensures that all contracts meet and fulfill Governmental requirements. Shearer (2011) notes that FARA supports greater efficiency and effectiveness in the acquisition process. This process has always been associated with cumbersomeness leading to major gaps in the bid process and the outcomes. The integration of these two legislative tools is expected to boost bid processes in government contracting for the Department of Defense. This is one of the quality security areas and must be accorded the attention that it deserves to enhance safety and security.

The Best Business Practice

The best viable DoD business practice is operating based on a “use it or lose it” budget mentality. Budgeting is one of the most important processes when dealing with contracts. It provides stakeholders with the opportunity to surge spending for personal benefits. A study by Valle (2016) shows that the budget environment creates an incentive for managers and other leaders to increase the spending level due to the utilization of the “use it or lose it” concept. They fluctuate the budget to align it with each of these perspectives. This concept helps teams to adopt appropriate planning for every initiative at hand. For example, if the budget aligns with the use concept, managers should make effective utilization of the budget for success and sustainability. Notably, if the allocated budget communicates a need to lose it, termination is a viable move to eliminate the emergence of further adverse outcomes.

Overall, the DoD agency has an opportunity to advance its activities by utilizing potential legal frameworks that can accelerate service delivery. The absence of responsibility and accountability has always tainted the image of this reputable agency. FASA, FARA, and the “Use or lose it” concept can open opportunities for DoD managers to change current processes to adopt excellent and robust systems and structures to improve related functions.

References

Manuel, K. (2010). Competition in Federal Contracting: An overview of the legal requirements. DIANE Publishing.

Shearer, D. (2011). FAR 13.5 Acquisition Streamlining: Observations and Recommendations for the Defense Logistics Agency. Defense Acquisition Univ Aberdeen Proving Ground Md.

Valle, A. (2016). Use it or Lose It: Do Year-end Budget Practices Permanently Inhibit Federal it Projects? (Doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University).