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List of contents
1. Big Picture - Big Issues
2. Processes and Issues in Contracting
3. Ethics in Contracting4. Sole Source or Competition?
4.0 Appeal of Competitive Contracting
5. Social Objectives through Government Contracting
6. Solicitations and Pre-Proposal Communications
7. Proposal Evaluation
8. Contract Administration
9. Contracting During Emergencies
10. Contract Completion and Audit
Appendix Glossary of Terms
Appendices Available Online
About the author
William Sims Curry is President of WSC Consulting, a small business specializing in consulting on government contracting. He served as an Air Force systems procurement officer and was formerly employed in purchasing management for prime contractors on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, DOE’s Positron Electron Project, and numerous DOD programs. He is author of three books on government contracting and numerous articles and research papers on government contracts and is a certified professional contracts manager (CPCM) and a fellow by the National Contract Management Association (NCMA).
Summary
The second edition of Government Contracting: Promises and Perils picks up where the first edition’s mission left off: exposing fraud, incompetence, waste, and abuse (FIWA) and analyzing corruption, mismanagement, and ineptitude that defile government contracting. The first edition thoroughly outlined procurement throughout the contracting cycle including initial planning, contractor selection, contract administration, contract closeout, and auditing. This significantly revised new edition provides additional much-needed guidance on contracting documents, management tools, and processes for addressing negative influences on government contracting, including an improved approach to evaluating proposals.
Specific guidance for avoiding FIWA is provided for government officials and employees, government agencies, and government contractors, and practical solutions to problems faced by individuals and organizations involved in government contracting are intended for both practitioner and pedagogical applications. The "Government Procurement Corruption Wall of Shame" that was introduced in the first edition to illustrate contracting perils such as conflicts of interest, duplicity, favoritism, incompetence, kickbacks, and protests is continued in the second edition, and cases illustrating the existence of FIWA in government contracting have been thoroughly updated. Contracting documents and contract management tools are provided on a website designed to accompany the book. Written at the graduate level and specifically intended for state, local, federal, and international government procurement activities, this textbook is required reading for public procurement, contract management, business, and public administrations courses.
Additional text
"Curry’s book is intended for working professionals, but lay readers will marvel at the complexities of the government/business interaction (what if the lowest price supplier can’t deliver in time?). As a manual for how things (ought to) work, it is indispensable." – Dan Barnett, Chico Enterprise-Record
