Podcast: Don Vandergriff on dropping Taylorism and adopting mission command
I was pleased to have Don Vandergriff on the Acquistion Talk podcast. Don is a prolific educator of military training and strategy, and he has […]
Blog Posts
Acquisition headlines
Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10 Billion JEDI Contract, Thwarting Amazon. “In 20 years of covering tech, I’ve never seen a battle for any type of contract […]
Was there a defect cover up on the Virginia Class submarine?
A Sept. 26 whistleblower complaint accuses shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls of falsifying quality tests on the stealth coating of Virginia Class attack submarines, thus “knowingly and/or […]
Small business graduation and the investment conundrum
The survival rates show that around 40 percent of new entrants exit the market for federal contracts after three years, around 60 percent after five […]
Some data on how fast costs are rising for the US Air Force
Last year I discussed whether defense acquisition was a cost disease sector, just like healthcare, education, and some areas of construction. I evaluated three methods […]
Providing two or more sources of production doesn’t always lead to higher costs
The second argument usually used against setting up a second source is that the efficiencies of the first source would have to be scaled back […]
Shay Assad, progress payments, pricing scandals, and a re-run of acquisition history
In January 2018, [USD(AT&L) Ellen] Lord called [DPAP Shay] Assad to her office to vent her frustration with the inconsistent performance of major defense firms. […]
Making the FAR sing isn’t enough — no one can be expert in all applicable laws, regs
The cost to the taxpayer of attempting to eliminate all risk is prohibitive. The Executive Branch will accept and manage the risk associated with empowering […]
Acquisition headline
Pentagon says decision on full-rate F-35 jet production possibly delayed until 2021. Not clear what the FRP decision really means in this context, more than […]
The stifling rigidity of the Total Package Procurement (TPP) concept for contracting
In the mid-1960 successful development contracts were generally followed by production contracts with little or no likelihood that the contracts would have to face competition. […]
Businesses run from high costs like gazelle from a lion
Businesses will run from increased costs like gazelle run when they smell a lion. It’s amazing how quickly they change their behavior. That was Andrew […]
Staffs set up a hierarchy within a hierarchy, creating built-in resistance from line officers
… there seems to be an inherent conflict between line and staff activities. In the first place, their functions largely overlap. The only way “doing” […]
GSA category management, does it put process ahead of value?
Industry has found it challenging to understand where the value proposition is in category management because you don’t see best-in-class measured as a performance issue […]
Complexity science, “if-then” propositions, and how to make decisions
I’m interested in complexity science, which, if you’re actually doing complexity science, it releases complexity. For example, in real complexity science, there’s an issue with […]
The debate on OTs and whether they are going to non-traditional contractors
… some observers question whether OTs are effectively bringing nontraditional contractors into the defense marketplace. A DOD Inspector General report examining other transactions from FY1994-FY2001 […]