Assignment 1 – Acquisition Management at the U.S. Government Accountability Office

Arte R. Ledyard

Professor Christopher Lodge

Business 230 – Purchasing & Materials Management

July 25, 2012

The line of business, mission, and goals of the organization he/she works for. Describe these briefly.

For this assignment, I interviewed Ms. Deja Craddock, a Purchasing Manager for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that supports the Congress by investigating how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. GAO’s work is done at the request of Congress in most cases, but the Comptroller General or head of the agency does also have the authority to independently initiate research. Examples of GAO’s work include:

• audit federal agencies to determine whether tax dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively;

• investigate allegations of illegal and improper activities;

• report on how well federal policies and programs are meeting their objectives;

• analyze policies for congressional consideration; and

• issue legal decisions and opinions, such as bid protests.

The overall mission of GAO is to, “support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. We provide Congress with timely information that is objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, nonideological, fair, and balanced” (Young, C., 1st citation). The goals and objectives of GAO are:

• Goal 1 - provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the federal government;

• Goal 2 - respond to changing security threats and the challenges of global interdependence;

• Goal 3 - help transform the federal government’s role and how it does business to meet 21st Century challenges; and

• Goal 4 - maximize the value of GAO by being a model federal agency and a world-class professional services organization (Young, C., 2nd citation).

The operational and strategic objectives of the supply and purchasing department and how they align with the organization’s mission and goals. The purchasing and supply management function at GAO is centrally managed by the Acquisition Management (AM) office. Although some small purchases (less than $3,000) are decentralized to card holders within teams and offices, the bulk of purchasing of goods and services from private vendors and other federal agencies is handled by AM. Operationally, AM is divided into two branches: Procurement Operations and Policy. The Procurement Operations Branch provides guidance on available procurement options, program requirements, and timeframes. Additionally, AM’s Procurement Operations Branch processes all internal requisitions for products and services and also negotiates and finalizes contractual agreements between GAO and outside vendors/federal agencies. AM’s Policy Branch oversees the management and development of policies and procedures for GAO’s procurement process and Purchase Card Program and also provides training for Contracting Officer’s Technical Representatives (Jones, C.). The strategic objectives of AM are tied to GAO’s Goal 4 – “maximize the value of GAO by being a model federal agency and a world-class professional services organization (Young, C.).” To that end, AM’s Procurement Operations Branch is charged with getting the best value for goods and services within the limits of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Additionally, the Policy Branch continually updates their internal SOPs as well as COTR training materials to reflect changes in the FAR. As an agency whose principal mission is to audit other federal agencies, GAO considers it critically important to “practice what it preaches” in its GAO reports—this includes AM. GAO certainly does not want to be on the receiving end of a contract bid protest because AM staff did not exercise their due diligence in letting a contract (Craddock, D.).

Describe his/her job functions and job responsibilities, educational background, professional experiences, personal challenges, job achievement, and fulfillment.

Ms. Deja Craddock, a Contract Specialist and Policy Analyst with in GAO’s Acquisition Management office, serves critical roles in both of AM’s Procurement Operations and Policy branches. As a Contract Specialist, Ms. Craddock works with internal clients and outside vendors in developing requirements, preparing statements of work, preparing solicitations, and briefing GAO’s Contract Selection Panel. Once the selection is made, she plays an integral role in writing and implementing the contract. As a Policy Analyst, Ms. Craddock maintains overall responsibility for the agency’s COTR training program and also incorporates changes/updates to the FAR in internal SOPs (Craddock, D.).

Ms. Craddock received her undergraduate degree in Information Technology (IT) and initially worked as a Human Resources Systems Administrator for another federal agency. While working in the IT field, she also found herself working with contracts, particularly with requirements gathering. This experience led Ms. Craddock to GAO as a Contract Specialist. She found that her IT background was very helpful in writing proposals, particularly those that were technical in nature. Currently she is pursuing a Masters in Acquisitions and Supply Chain Management and Business Administration. Additionally, Ms. Craddock is FAC-C Level III certified and is required to take 80 hours of continuing education ever 2 years (Craddock, D.).

The most challenging aspect of Ms. Craddock’s job comes when an internal client is uncertain what he/she wants, which makes developing requirements very difficult. Additional challenges come in to play when a contract serves the agency as a whole because there are many individuals that want to be heard during requirements gathering and during the selection process. This exact situation presented itself when GAO selected its travel system four years ago, GovTrip. Ms. Craddock said this was the most difficult contract she has worked with at GAO, though it was not without recognition. Ms. Craddock received a GAO Honor Award for her work on this contract, the highest award a GAO employee can receive (Craddock, D.).

Though the job is very challenging, Ms. Cradock seems to really enjoy her job. She says the favorite parts of her job are assisting clients developing requirements and teaching new COTRs. On the flip side, the part of her job she likes the least is working with internal clients who are either unsure of what they need or do not want to spend the time with her in developing the requirements for the contract (Craddock, D.).

Resources
Craddock, D. (personal communication, July 26, 2012).

Jones, C. U.S. GAO – About Us, Acquisition Management. U.S. Government Accountability Office. Retrieved on July 26, 2012 from http://intranet.gao.gov/caso/about/our_offices/acquisition_management

Young, C. U.S. GAO - About GAO. U.S. Government Accountability Office. Retrieved on July 26, 2012 from http://www.gao.gov/about/index.html

Young, C. U.S. GAO - Strategic Planning, Performance, and Accountability. U.S. Government Accountability Office. Retrieved on July 26, 2012 from http://www.gao.gov/about/strategic.html[pic]