Competition and the DoD Marketplace, Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, Thursday Sessions, Volume II

摘要

The looming budget crisis brings opportunity for improving acquisition performance. MajorDepartment of Defense (DoD) budget cuts are certain, creating an even greater need to reinin costs. From almost every vantage point—including ship, aircraft, space-ground systemdevelopment, military construction, modernization, and sustainment—acquisition costs haveescalated (Ewing, 2012). A new strategy is needed to drive down costs, spur innovation, andimprove acquisition performance. It is these authors’ belief that by using an Open BusinessModel, Open Systems Architecture practices, and simultaneously creating a competitivemarketplace, the DoD can significantly reduce the impact of the coming budget cuts. Thispaper identifies the general aspects of an alternative acquisition model. We will report arelevant example of success that had dramatically better acquisition performance than thecurrent one and will discuss how the DoD can transition to this model to avert the comingcrisis for the U.S. DoD Enterprise.