Rule of the Road
Order Instructions:
Imagine you made your hobby of building model airplanes into a small business that produces very small remote control aircrafts capable of long sustained flights. You are ready to expand your business by competing for Department of Homeland Security contracts.
Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:
1. Analyze how the federal act supports and favors your business over large multinational organizations that build aircrafts (e.g., Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation).
2. Create an organizational chart that would best support working within the federal contracting system and explain the value of each position (i.e., internal contracting officer) to your proposed business.
3. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality 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:
• Explain the basics of how and from whom the federal government buys what it needs.
• Apply the rules of federal government contracting.
• Compare the government’s key players and describe their main functions.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in contract administration and management.
• Write clearly and concisely about contract administration and management using proper writing mechanics.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Rule of the Road
The American government is the world’s biggest purchaser of services and products. Purchases by civilian and military installations total almost $500 billion annually (Johns, 2015). Small firms countrywide can and need to make the most of contracting opportunities since such opportunities could actually be an essential revenue source that would help them in growing, innovating and creating employment opportunities. This paper provides an exhaustive analysis of how the federal act supports and favours the small business over big multinational corporations such as Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation which build aircrafts. In addition, an organizational chart is developed which would best support working within the federal contracting system and the value of each position to my proposed business is explained.
Federal agencies by law are required to formulate goals of contracting in such a way that 23 percent of all government purchases are procured from small businesses. Additionally, there are contract goals established for small disadvantaged businesses, businesses owned by women, companies owned by disabled veterans and businesses situated in HUBZones. These government-wide goals are 5 percent, 5 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent respectively although they are at times not attained (Government Contracts USA, 2015). They are vital since federal agencies have a constitutional duty of reaching out and considering small firms for procurement opportunities. As such, it is up to the small business owners to market and match their business services and products to the federal agencies’ buying needs (Government Contracts USA, 2015).
Small business contracting is a top priority for President Obama. The President established an inter-agency taskforce that came up with suggestions for increasing small business contracting. Moreover, he signed the Small Business Jobs Act that increases the access of small business to contracting opportunities and levels the playing field (Johns, 2015). It is notable that these initiatives have really made a major difference. Within the last 2 years alone, the number of contracts which have gone to small firms has increased steadily. In 2014, nearly 23% of all federal contracting funds went to small companies (Johns, 2015).
The Office of Government Contracting has the function of creating an environment for full participation by women-owned, disadvantaged, and small firms in federal government contract awards. The Office of Government Contracting advocates for small businesses in the federal procurement (U.S. Small Business Administration, 2015). The mission of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is to promote and stimulate economic development by way of providing help to new firms to get started and established businesses to expand and grow. The SBA could help small firms overcome significant barriers which they typically encounter when they try to win federal contracts. This is because the U.S. Small Business Administration works directly with other federal agencies and America’s major federal contractors to make sure that small firms actually get a fair share of subcontracts and contracts of the federal government (Government Contracts USA, 2015).
Organizational chart
There are various responsibilities and roles within the federal government as regards federal contracts.
Internal Contracting Officer (CO): individual who is in charge of negotiating or directing changes to Period of Performance, Statement of Work, delivery schedule, among others. The value of this federal government employee to my proposed small business is that he/she will authorize reimbursement of costs, that is, he or she is in charge of approving invoices. On the whole, a Contracting Officer has the role of awarding and administering the contract to my proposed business. The individual also has the role of terminating contracts, delivery orders, purchase orders, task orders and modifications. They also have role of obligating federal finances, and make findings as well as determinations. All these roles are subject to the Contracting Officer’s Certificate of Appointment (Federal Acquisition Institute, 2014).
Contracting Specialist (CS): with approval of the Contracting Officer, the person holding this role carries out procedural steps. The value of this federal government official to my proposed business is that he or she will carry out pre-award functions: the individual plans the acquisition strategy and prepares solicitation documentation. The individual will also perform contract award functions: this individual evaluates responses, negotiates terms of the contract, and prepares award documentation. He or she will also perform post-award functions: the individual modifies contracts, monitors performance of the contract, and closes out contracts (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2015).
Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): the individual in this role performs specific contract management duties pertaining to technical oversight as well as administration of a given contract. The value of this individual to my proposed business is that he or she monitors technical progress. He or she also recommends changes in requirements to the CO. The COR will ensure that as a contractor, my small business actually meets the commitments of the contract. The federal employees in this role are typically the first ones to know when a given contract or program is underperforming (Federal Acquisition Institute, 2014).
Inspector: the person in this role has value to my small business since he/she has limited quality assurance responsibility of: determining whether supplies of my small business comply with the legal requirements and requirements of the contract; preparing correspondence, and reports of investigations or inspections; and making necessary suggestions for legal or administrative authorities. He or she also has the role of examining and testing the services or manufactured supplies of the contractor, including intermediate assemblies, components as well as raw materials. The inspector also inspects materials and equipment owned by the government which are in the contractor’s – my small business – hands in order to prevent irregularities such as theft, damage and waste (Federal Acquisition Institute, 2014).
References
Federal Acquisition Institute. (2014). Contracting Officer’s Representative. FAI.
Government Contracts USA. (2015). Federal contract opportunities for your business. Retrieved from http://www.governmentbids.com/cgi/en/bidding.advice.articles/Article/federal-contract-opportunities-for-your-business
Johns, M. (2015). Federal contracting: Basics and Resources. HUBZone Contractors National Council.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2015). Contract specialist. Retrieved from http://mycareeratva.va.gov/careers/career/110215
U.S. Small Business Administration. (2015). Office of Government Contracting. SBA. https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/ogc
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
