Analysis of Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, General Accounting Office, and Federal Court Decisions on best value in Federal procurement

摘要

This thesis analyzed four significant rulings by the Federal Courts, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, and General Accounting Office with respect to disputes regarding the best value selections in Government procurement and recommended ways to integrate these lessons into procurement organizations. Best value entails the use of weighted factors that reflect the relative importance of each factor to the user. This allows the introduction of past performance, experience, technical approach, and other factors to be considered in addition to price. The thesis analyzed the issues of four specific cases to determine if there is a pattern of weakness in a specific area of best value implementation. The aim is to bring any weaknesses to the attention of the acquisition professional in order to promote better application of best value and avoid future disputes, or at a minimum eliminate sustained disputes against the Government. This thesis also looked at the commercial sector use of best value selections to view the similarities and differences that can be used to compare strengths and weaknesses of the Government's approach.