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April 18, 2019 By AMK

Thoughts on the President’s management agenda: Kudos … with a caution

Amidst whatever the current political climate might have been, for the last half dozen administrations, the president’s management agenda (PMA) has consistently set forth a vision for government that not only serves as an important foundation for agency operations and priorities, but has consistently also built on the work of previous administrations.

Indeed, while every PMA has reflected some of the priorities of the relevant administration, for the most part the agendas have been apolitical and reflected a logical, if slow, progression in the modernization of government.

The Trump administration’s PMA is no different. To the administration’s credit, it avoided a “not invented here” mindset and grounded its plan in rationale, goals, themes, and, in some areas, specific priorities that reflect challenges and problems similar in nature to those identified for many years by previous administrations. Striving for better mission outcomes?  Check.  Improving customer service?  Check.  Improving fiscal stewardship?  Check.

Similarly, the PMA’s “root cause” analysis also strikes some very familiar chords: regulatory burdens, siloed governance and management, sometimes torturous decision-making processes, concerns about workforce capabilities and competencies, leadership and culture. Further, the core management initiatives are, in the main, consistent and logical, as are the cross-agency priorities. Their implementation is now underway.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/excellence/management-matters/2019/03/thoughts-presidents-management-agenda-kudos-caution/155859/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition maturity model, acquisition workforce, decision-making, leadership, PMA, president's management agenda, regulatory reform

November 21, 2018 By AMK

Move aside sports betting, let’s wager on FAR rules

Nine states already allow for sports betting and 19 others have some sort of legislative action underway to make it legal, according to ESPN’s Oct. 30 sports betting tracker.

Betting on sport is so popular that the American Gambling Association estimates that all four major sports leagues would earn a collective $4.2 billion from legalized sports betting.

So what does this all have to do with federal government management issues?

Well, thanks for asking.

The Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) recently released its semi-annual regulatory agenda and it got me thinking about the proposed and final Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules.

What are the chances of any of these rules getting past the finish line?

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2018/11/move-aside-sports-betting-lets-wager-on-far-rules/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: FAR, Federal Acquisition Regulation, federal regulations, OMB, regulation, regulatory reform

May 2, 2018 By AMK

Reform panel on track to cut DoD-specific acquisition regs by half

Fourteen months after President Donald Trump ordered all agencies to stand up regulatory reform task forces, the Defense Department is making major progress in weeding out what it views as outdated and unnecessary acquisition rules.

The group of Defense officials charged with examining acquisition rules is one of three subgroups currently operating within DoD as part if its regulatory reform task force.

Its particular charge is to undertake an in-depth scrub of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), decide what is still relevant, and what is slowing the system down for no good reason.

The review is about midway through, and so far, it is on track to reduce the size of the DFARS by about half. The group is made up of representatives from the military services, plus the Pentagon’s office of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/defense-main/2018/04/reform-panel-on-track-to-cut-dod-unique-acquisition-regs-by-half/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, acquisition workforce, DFARS, FAR, House Armed Services Committee, procurement reform, regulatory reform, Section 809 Panel

January 3, 2018 By AMK

‘That’s the worst!’ — Acquisition regulations we love to hate

The sheer number of laws, regulations, and policies that apply to the defense acquisition process is staggering.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which governs how the federal government buys goods and services, is a 2,000-page document. On top of that is the 1,500-page Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), which applies specifically to purchases by the Department of Defense (DoD). In addition to all those regulations are federal statutes and DoD internal policies that govern the acquisition process. For contracting officers, that means determining the applicability of hundreds of regulations, in addition to hundreds of laws and policies, to make a purchase.

Many of these laws, regulations, and policies are outdated, but no one has taken the time to remove or update them. According to a 2017 analysis by Deloitte, over two-thirds of all federal regulations on the books have never been updated since they were created. While each outdated regulation alone may not be a significant problem, in the aggregate those regulations can pose an enormous administrative burden. Many in the defense acquisition workforce have argued that assessing and complying with the large number of regulations slows down the acquisition process, wasting time, money, and energy that could be better spent elsewhere.  Additionally, the complexity and cost of compliance creates a barrier to entry for small businesses that may wish to engage in business with DoD but cannot afford the lawyers and compliance officers necessary for the job.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/regulations/2017/12/18/thats-the-worst-acquisition-regulations-we-love-to-hate/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: 50 Worst!, acquisition workforce, DFARS, DoD, FAR, Federal Acquisition Regulation, federal regulations, NDAA, regulatory reform, Section 809 Panel, small business

August 31, 2017 By AMK

Pentagon run more like a business? It’s been trying for years

Pentagon officials, at the urging of Congress and successive administrations, has been trying for years to operate more like a business to cut costs and operate more efficiently. They have little to show for those efforts, an analysis by Bloomberg Government shows.

Shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, the Defense Business Board, which advises the Pentagon on management from a private-sector perspective, urged that the Department of Defense be run “like a modern business.”

However, getting the military’s massive bureaucracy to behave more like a corporation is harder than it looks, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

Keep reading this article at: https://about.bgov.com/blog/pentagon-run-like-business-trying-years/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, commercial item, commercial off-the-shelf, commercial products, DoD, GAO, government reform, Pentagon, procurement reform, regulatory reform

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