Contract Management articles from June 2005

Contract Management archives from June 2005

See you on the NCMA trail ...(LEADERSHIP FORUM)(National Concrete Masonry Association)(Column)
June 1, 2005... Take a hard look at the articles in this issue, the theme of which is "Ethics and Corporate Compliance." It is an understatement that we have faced some "defining moments" in both our profession and in business in the recent past; corporate...

Contracting in a hostile environment.
June 1, 2005... As a contract administrator, you may not have ever thought you were working in a "hostile environment." Somehow, this concept may not even seem possible--I assure you, it is. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Let's say you have worked years to...

Enhancing your ethics program: acquisition offices and contractors need to have an active ethics program. Learn more about training and checklists a reviewer can use to determine the adequacy of an existing ethics program.
June 1, 2005... Recent events with a senior U.S. Air Force executive and a major defense contractor have brought attention back to the importance and need for ethics programs in the acquisition process. As always, when there has been an extreme example of...

Organizational conflicts of interest: applying the FAR rules to OCI may significantly restrict the contractor's scope of work and competition available to the agency. The challenge is for the government to achieve a balance between procurement process integrity and contractor participation and competition.(federal acquisition regulations)(conflicts of interest)
June 1, 2005... The rules are simple. Contracting officers confronting potential organizational conflicts of interest are to "[p]revent... the existence of conflicting roles that might bias a contractor's judgment," and "[p]revent... unfair competitive...

Corporate compliance since 2002: the compliance environment has become more complex for contractors to navigate, and the stakes have gotten higher. Review the important developments for the government contracting community.
June 1, 2005... The past few years have been quite an active time in the world of corporate compliance. As a result of well-publicized corporate scandals, the legal and regulatory landscape has changed dramatically for U.S. companies, including government...

Small Business Act certification fraud: raising the stakes; Due to a confluence of factors, there is compelling evidence of widespread miscertification with the SBA when firms report their small business status.
June 1, 2005... "Houston, the Small Business Act has a problem." An escalating number of firms are routinely miscertifying their small business status, to the detriment of both "true" small businesses and more honest larger businesses. (1) Although...

Basics of government contracting.(course in government contracting)
June 1, 2005... A comprehensive three-day review of the entire Federal procurement process--from start to finish--emphasizing the practical, the keys to success in today's contract world. Basics of Government Contracting This is a fundamental course...

Ethics repaired: with responsible leaders and training, tuned organizational infrastructures, and individual commitment, ethics can be repaired.
June 1, 2005... Headlines ripped from today's news read like a "who's who" list of people who were caught with their hand in the cookie jar! Almost every news media you see presents someone who has allegedly committed some sort of white collar crime or been...

Graduate education and research: key to procurement transformation.
June 1, 2005... Faced with the challenges of the global war on terrorism and the fiscal battles of budget cuts and resource constraints, the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to rely on its procurement process to ensure a continuous flow of critical...

NCMA FREE Webinar: best practices in global contract management.
June 1, 2005... Wednesday, June 15, 2005 1:00pm-2:30pm Eastern 12:00pm-1:30pm Central 11:00am-12:30pm Mountain 10:00am-11:30am Pacific Register Today: www.dicarta.com/ncma Registration Fee: FREE! Register Early... Seats Are Limited....

Windfall.(Bidding of Highway contracts)
June 1, 2005... The Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) solicited for five years of road work in two forests in the Idaho panhandle. The area of Schedule A from the State of Washington to the Montana border was easily accessible; Schedule B, near Elk...

Gain business intelligence with Intellego Solutions.(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)(Intellego data warehouse)
June 1, 2005... Increasingly, companies and agencies are learning that the integration of all the data and information spread out over their many databases is a key to success. Few are able to gather the data, however, and derive some intelligence from...

E-courses.(Curriculam of Online education)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... With the support of our new on-line learning partner, VCampus, we are proud to offer you virtual courses to support the NCMA Certification Program. On-line learning is a flexible, affordable, and effective way to meet your continuing education...

Senate bill: creating deputy secretary of defense to oversee DOD business management.(Legislation)
June 1, 2005... On April 14, 2005, Senator Ensign (R-NV) introduced S. 780 to create a deputy secretary of defense for management in the Department of Defense (DOD). Under the bill, the new secretary would serve as the chief management officer for the DOD and...

Senate bill introduced to require competition in certain executive agency procurements.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... On April 11, 2005, Senator Levin (D-MI) introduced S. 749, requiring all executive agencies to use competitive procedures for the procurement of products from Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI). In addition, the bill would mandate that the...

House and senate introduce bills to require air traffic controllers to be federal employees.(Legislation)
June 1, 2005... On April 5, 2005, Representative Sanders (I-VT) introduced H.R. 1474, also known as "The Federal Aviation Security Act of 2005," to designate the functions of air traffic control specialists at flight service stations operated by the Federal...

DOD, GSA & NASA issue final rule on Section 508 micro-purchase exemption.(Department of Defense)(General Services Administration)(National Aeronautics and Space Administration)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The Department of Defense (DOD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have issued a final rule, adopting without change an interim rule issued on October 5, 2004 (see 69 Fed....

DOD, GSA & NASA issue interim rule, requiring best-value analysis for purchases from FPI.(Department of Defense)(General Services Administration)(National Aeronautics and Space Administration)(Federal Prison Industries, Inc)(Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... DOD, GSA, and NASA have issued an interim rule requiring a purchasing agency to determine that any proposed purchase from Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI) provides the best value to the agency. This interim rule implements Section 637 of...

DOD, GSA & NASA propose rule for governmentwide implementation of EVMS requirements.(Regulations)(Department of Defense)(General Services Administration)(National Aeronautics and Space Administration)(Earned value management system )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... DOD, GSA, and NASA have proposed a rule establishing standard earned value management system (EVMS) provisions, a standard clause, and a set of guidelines for governmentwide use. Title V of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994...

DOD, GSA & NASA abandon effort to apply Brooks Act to mapping services.(Regulations)(Department of Defense)(General Services Administration)(National Aeronautics and Space Administration)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... DOD, GSA, and NASA have issued a notice that no change to the FAR is necessary, after review of public comments received in response to the request for comments on the application of the Brooks Architect-Engineers Act to mapping services. As...

DOD issues final rule, permitting entrance into certain personal services contracts.(Regulations)(Department of Defense)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... DOD has issued a final rule to provide authority for DOD to enter into personal services contracts in the following three circumstances: (1) for health care services at locations outside of DOD medical treatment facilities; (2) for services...

DOD issues final rules clarifying contractor reporting requirements and requiring use of unique item identification.(Regulations)
June 1, 2005... DOD has issued two final rules stemming from its DFARS transformation initiative, undertaken to change dramatically the purpose and content of the DFARS to contain only requirements of law, DOD-wide policies, delegations of FAR authorities,...

DOD proposes rule to require passive radio frequency ID tags.(Regulations)
June 1, 2005... DOD has issued a proposed rule requiring contractors to affix passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags at the case and palletized unit load levels, when shipping packaged operational rations, clothing, individual equipment, tools,...

DOD proposes eight rules related to DFARS transformation initiative.(Department of Defense)(Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement)
June 1, 2005... DOD has issued eight proposed rules stemming from its DFARS transformation initiative. First, to promote standardization in contract writing, DOD proposes to amend DFARS 204.7102 to eliminate the exceptions to the requirements for uniform...

GAO issues final rule to permit contest by agency tender official under circular A-76.(Regulations)(Government Accountability Office)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a final rule amending the definition of an interested party to permit a contest by an agency tender official (ATO) in certain public-private competitions under OMB Circular A-76. This final...

GSA proposes to extend FSS prices to beneficiaries of certain federal programs, by "deeming" orders they place with retailers to be contract orders of agency subsidizing retail purchase.(Regulations)
June 1, 2005... GSA has issued a proposed rule amending the GSA Regulations (GSAR) to permit certain federal agencies access to contract prices for pharmaceuticals products through a rebate mechanism when the agencies pay retail pharmacies a portion of their...

OMB announces public availability of agency inventories under FAIR Act.(Regulations)(Office of Management and Budget)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The OMB has issued a notice, announcing the public availability of agency inventories of activities that are not inherently governmental and of activities that are inherently governmental. The Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR) Act...

Announcing NCMA's new board of directors.(NCMA ASSOCIATION NEWS)(National Contract Management Association)
June 1, 2005... CM magazine welcomes the new NCMA national officers and board directors for program year 2005-2006. These board directors will assume their duties on July 1, 2005. Here is some information on your leadership for the year, those board directors...

CM magazine 2005 editorial calendar.(Calendar)
June 1, 2005... October -- Articles Due: July 1, 2005 Government Contracting--Best Practices Best practices in the contract management process including solicitation preparation, source selection, contract formation, contract administration, and...

NCMA corporate membership.(National Contract Management Association)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... NCMA corporate members enhance their industry image as premier businesses in the contract management community. Learn how your company can take advantage of our growing resources by joining our corporate members. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Big success, California style.
June 1, 2005... Southern California is home to one of NCMA's oldest chapters, Los Angeles-South Bay, which was chartered on May 16, 1961. That's 44 years of experience in chapter management--and it shows. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Certificate of Ethics Education: available July 2005!
June 1, 2005... Making legally and ethically appropriate decisions is crucial in today's highly scrutinized business environment. To help contract professionals improve their skills and knowledge, we have worked with LRN, the leading ethics and compliance...

NCMA 2005 National Education Seminars (NES) series.(National Contract Management Association)(Calendar)
June 1, 2005... Contract Negotiations Based on the highly successful book by Gregory A. Garrett, Contract Negotiations: Skills, Tools, and Best Practices, this seminar provides a comprehensive treatment of contract negotiations, with a compelling...

Cravens Award: Cravens Membership Award goes to Centanni.(NCMA ASSOCIATION NEWS)(James E. Cravens Membership Award for Raymond R. Centanni Jr.)
June 1, 2005... James E. Cravens was an enthusiastic supporter of a national organization to enhance the professionalism of contract management. Because he strongly believed that NCMA fulfilled that objective, he frequently referred to himself as the...

Announcing ESI International's 2005 Contracting Award winner!(NCMA ASSOCIATION NEWS)
June 1, 2005... Each year, ESI International, with NCMA's sponsorship, awards $5,000 to a commercial or government contracts professional who has contributed significantly to acquisition operations or acquisition policy. ESI is a leading contract and project...

Erratum.(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2005... Audio Seminar Ad Correction In the April 2005 issue of Contract Management magazine, page 65, Presenter David Dempsey, of Holland & Knight LLP, was incorrectly identified as "counsel." He is a partner with the firm.

Bethesda medical chapter.(CHAPTER BULLETIN BOARD)
June 1, 2005... Co-president Prasad Karunakaran (right) presents David Drabkin (left), deputy chief acquisition officer for GSA, with a gift of appreciation after his talk on GSA's "Get It Right" program for the chapter. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Bluegrass chapter.(CHAPTER BULLETIN BOARD)
June 1, 2005... The Bluegrass Chapter's March 17 NES, "Contract Negotiations," was co-presented by Jim Kirlin and Mark Pearsall. In the picture, from left to right, are Mark Pearsall, Joan Wysoske, and Jim Kirlin. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Heidelberg chapter (Germany).(CHAPTER BULLETIN BOARD)
June 1, 2005... Members and colleagues thank guest speaker Gail Crawford (civilian personnel directorate) for her talk on "Leadership Development Opportunities." Left to right: Jeff Harrington (treasurer), Sarah Taylor (certification chair), Alfred Heinrich...