Contract source selection: an analysis of lowest price technically acceptable and tradeoff strategies

MBA Professional ReportSource selection planning is an important step within the acquisition process. Use of an appropriate source selection strategy is key to minimizing risk and ensuring best value for all stakeholders. On the basis of thorough market research, acquisition professionals must decide at an early stage which source selection strategy (lowest price technically acceptable or tradeoff) to utilize in order to achieve a best value contract award. This research attempts to determine if a relationship exists between contract outcomes (e.g., procurement administrative lead-time, Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System ratings, and earned value management assessments) and source selection strategy. This research is part of an ongoing research stream. Our research incorporates new data extracted from a large sample of contracts at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and Naval Supply Systems Command. The results suggest there is a relationship between source selection strategy and procurement administrative lead-time. However, there is not yet sufficient data to confirm if a relationship exists between source selection strategy and Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System ratings, or between source selection strategy and federal supply codes at different systems commands. Future research should focus on gathering more empirical data to assess these relationships.http://archive.org/details/contractsourcese1094549488Lieutenant, United States NavyLieutenant, United States NavyLieutenant Commander, United States NavyLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited