reform | The Contracting Education Academy

October 9, 2020 By cs

Why government must change its management model

Bureaucracy is getting worse, not better.

COVID-19 and the sudden shift to working remotely has accomplished something presidential initiatives, commissions and consultants failed to do — it’s forced work units and their managers to rethink working relationships. There is no time or reason to do another study; agencies have to make it work.

On the positive side, this could finally provide the impetus to shed bureaucratic practices. As John Kamensky argued in a recent column, it’s time to “strengthen unit-level health and performance.” That’s also the theme of a new book, Humanocracy, a “passionate, data-driven argument for excising bureaucracy and replacing it with something better.” The book advances the ideas in Kamensky’s column in some important ways.

The Need to ‘Excise Bureaucracy’

Government today is confronted by multiple workforce concerns: the abrupt need for highly qualified, dedicated front line workers to battle COVID; redefined manager-employee working relationships imposed by remote working; the continuing aging of the workforce; a work experience that by all reports contributes to early turnover of new hires; and a need for improved performance. Government is also affected by demographic trends, the changing career choices of the next generation of workers, and talent shortages in a number of fields. Looking ahead, in the absence of needed change, the workforce problems will deepen and performance will deteriorate.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/09/why-government-must-change-its-management-model/168449/

June 5, 2019 By AMK

A Pentagon contractor’s 9,400% profit on a half-inch metal pin is challenged

As the Pentagon weighs whether to recommend legislation to require more disclosure by contractors, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform will review the audit and TransDigm’s pricing policies in a hearing on Wednesday.

The inspector general’s report “exposes how a company entrusted with supporting our military men and women took advantage of American taxpayers by overcharging the government more than $16 million” in parts sales sold between 2015 and 2017, Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings said in a statement. The hearing will “investigate whether these pricing issues are more widespread, and demand answers,” he said.

From 2013 through 2015, according to the audit, the contractor increased the price of a valve that opens and closes to change the pressure of fuel moving through an engine to $9,801 from $543. In those years, TransDigm also charged $1,443 each for a “non-vehicular clutch disk” that cost $32 to make.

Planes, Copters

The Pentagon’s inspector general first raised pricing concerns over TransDigm in a 2006 report, followed by the one this year that was released in redacted form in February.

TransDigm manufactures spare parts for airplanes and helicopters including the AH-64 Apache, C-17 Globemaster III, F-16 Fighting Falcon and the CH-47 Chinook. From April 2012 through January 2017, DOD issued 4,942 contracts valued at $471 million to TransDigm.

Liza Sabol, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland-based company, said in an email “that we are not providing comments on specific questions related to the IG report.”

Keep reading article at: http://amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2019/05/14/transdigm-pentagon-costs

October 18, 2017 By AMK

Breaking the stranglehold of calcified federal acquisition policies

Mac Thornberry, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, thinks government ought to be able to take advantage of the robust world of online marketplaces (think Amazon or EBay).

Thus, he has included in the House version of the 2018 defense authorization bill a provision authorizing just that. Since there is no similar language in the Senate bill, the provision will be decided in conference committee, although significant opposition jeopardizes its survival.

In truth, it shouldn’t be a question at all. There is no reason the government cannot or should not be a part of this global shift. The only question should be how to make it work.

First, we have to answer the core question of the extent to which the government is willing to let go of longstanding acquisition policies and requirements.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/excellence/promising-practices/2017/10/breaking-stranglehold-calcified-federal-acquisition-policies/141668/

January 12, 2017 By AMK

Pentagon acquisition reorganization could help fight adversaries

The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act provides for the reorganization of the Pentagon’s buying office, and it could be a key part of outpacing adversaries’ tech development.

By February 2018, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, known as AT&L, will be split into two separate roles: one undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, and another for acquisition and sustainment.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2017/01/pentagon-acquisition-reorganization-could-help-fight-adversaries/134415/

January 5, 2017 By AMK

Federal procurement: The road ahead under Trump

President-elect Trump is about to be sworn in as the 45^th President of the United States.

Between now and then (and continuing into the first few months of his presidency), he and federal agencies will select new leadership and establish their policy priorities.

Though the Trump administration has spoken little about its acquisition policy, the transition and campaign websites provide some insight about the acquisition agenda that the new administration will pursue, as well as other policies that may impact government contractors and federal acquisition personnel.

Keep reading this article at: https://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2016/12/16/insights-burton-trump-transition-acquisition.aspx