Application of a Taxonomical Structure for Classifying Goods Procured by theFederal Government

摘要

The concept of contracting as a science has been explored in depth in procurementresearch over the past several years. One of the most intriguing research efforts involved the development of a model for the classification of goods. This thesis describes the application and validation of the previously developed scheme for classifying goods procured by the Federal Government. Three distinct homogeneous groups of goods (food service equipment, ship and marine equipment, and items unique to the P-3 ORION aircraft) were identified and classified using data collected from the buyers of these goods. The primary objective of the research effort was to actually classify goods by using taxonomic methods, and in doing so, validate the scheme for the classification of Government goods. Secondary objectives were to identify any improvements to be made to the scheme, and to propose potential applications for the model. The researcher was able to successfully apply the model to a diverse set of goods using the taxonomic methods outlined in the scheme, and provided some suggestions for improvement.