What the Acquisition Process Model is?

Introduction

There are two ways in which the acquisition process is understood. First is the acquisition of a company by another company and the second is the acquisition of government contracts. In the case of acquiring companies the acquisition process consists of many steps that are involved in the merger with or acquisition of another company (“What is the Acquisition Process?” 2016). The way the acquisition process progresses depends on the sizes of the companies involved and the way the owners of the these companies decide different matters concerning the acquisition process. This is a process that requires careful consideration as it could involve the transfer of the staff member from one to another company.

The acquisition process is also utilized by different people to acquire government contracts. There are different steps involved in the acquisition of government contracts. In this paper I would like to explain the different steps involved in the acquisition process.

Steps involved in the Acquisition process

Following steps are involved in the acquisition process.

1. Requirements Definition
2. Acquisition Strategy
3. Request Proposal
4. Evaluation Phase
5. Contract Award
6. Post Contract Award

I would now like to discuss these steps one by one.

1. Requirements Definition: At this level, there is a need to assist the customers who are interested in acquiring the government contracts to know what are the requirements of the government. For example a government might be interested in giving out the contract to a company that has fulfilled certain legal requirements like registration with the concerned authorities. There is also a need to do a market research and find out different aspects of the contract with respect to its feasibility and affordability for the customer. The customers should be assisted to do a proper homework before any application is made. The customers should be assisted to do a proper work statement for different commodities.
2. Acquisition Strategy: At this stage contract development is carried out. There is a need to clearly define the relation between the Government and the contracting party. This definition is necessary for future legal matters that may arise. The contract that is going to be signed should be comprehensive enough to encompass the entire scope of the program. There must be a clear statement of who has what responsibilities i.e. the responsibilities of the government and the contractor. The health of the contract would eventually impact the health of the proposed project or program. Contract should be proposed for well-defined and funded programs by the government.
3. Request for Proposal: At this stage the proposal requirement should be thoroughly examined. For example what the evaluation criteria is and what it the basic award. Contract formulation, work statement the delivery schedule and payment terms and conditions are all part of the proposal.
4. Evaluation: The evaluation must be done in accordance with the guidelines of the RFP criteria (Cooper, Schindler & Sun, 2003). If there is a need, RFP can be modified. The evaluation of different proposals is done in comparison to the standards that already exist. All source selection data are to be protected.

In the evaluation process, decencies, strengths, weaknesses and risks should be identified. Proposal analysis and price evaluation are performed at this stage.

5. Contract Award: When all the evaluations are completed, the contract is ready to be approved. The governmental authorities would then send out notifications and announce the award of the contract.
6. Post Contract Award: A debrief of the unsuccessful candidates is done to convince them that their proposals have been examined thoroughly. They might protest and argue that they have been treated unfairly. Some time frame is provided for them to record their protests and answers are provided.

Conclusion

Government contract acquisition is a lengthy process. the parties who are trying to get their hand on the government contracts have to work hard. First they need to understand the requirements of the government and then there is a proposal prepared in the light of the requirements. The proposal should be in the budget proposed by the government. It should not be very low as the government has already done their calculations and they may think that the amount of money they have allocated must be spent for the effective completion of the proposed project or program.