The trend today, given the statutory, policy, and regulatory mandates discussed in the introduction, is that acquisitions are conducted by teams of people, working cooperatively toward a common goal.
This is the model used by leading or breakthrough organizations, which have come to recognize the limitations of clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and organizational boundaries... and have adopted the use of acquisition teams that integrate all stakeholders' efforts toward one goal: mission accomplishment.
These principles are also reflected in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which (1) recognizes that teams begin with the customer and end with the contractor and (2) outlines procurement policies and procedures that are used by members of the acquisition team. Note also that the FAR specifically provides that contracting officers "should take the lead in encouraging business process innovations and ensuring that business decisions are sound."
In this guide, we call such acquisition teams "integrated project teams" in acknowledgement of the fundamental purpose of performance-based acquisition: to find solutions to agency mission and program needs.
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