Acquisition Management

Preface

It goes without challenge that the federal government is the biggest buyer of them all. The record shows that in fiscal year 1999, the federal government spent more than 183 billion dollars to acquire goods and services. At the same time, government procurement policies and procedures were undergoing their most extensive overhaul in government procurement history. Not only was the federal government moving toward a paperless contracting process, but it also was changing its policies and procedures to meet post–Cold War needs. The objective of these new ways of doing business, often referred to as “acquisition streamlining,” was to make the process more flexible and responsive. Another goal was to reduce the time required to develop, procure, ...