Abstract

To be effective, every government manager must have a working knowledge of the source selection process. Even the most carefully crafted contract cannot repair the adverse mission impact of making a poor source selection decision. This accessible guide provides the framework you need. Its practical approach and concise presentation make it to the go-to resource on source selection for busy government managers. Contents: An Overview of Source Selection • Lowest Price, Technically Acceptable vs. Trade-off • The Acquisition Plan and the Source Selection Plan • Protests • Organizing for Source Selection • Market Research • Involving Contractors in Source Selection Planning • Establishing Proposal Evaluation Factors • Small Business Participation as a Merit Factor • Establishing the Relative Importance of Evaluation Factors and Subfactors • Past Performance as an Evaluation Factor • The Relative Importance of Cost • Designing Proposal Preparation Instructions • Oral Presentations • Advertising a Planned Acquisition • Preparing the Solicitation • Holding a Preproposal Conference • Briefing Evaluators and Advisors • Evaluating Merit/ Technical Factors • Evaluating Past Performance • Evaluating Proposed Cost or Price • Clarifications and Award without Discussions • Establishing the Competitive Range • The Exchange Known as Communications • Holding Discussions • Prohibited Exchanges • Proposal Revisions • Making and Documenting the SSource Selection Decision • Notifications to Offerors • Debriefings • Task Order Contracts • Variations in Source Selection • Ethical Considerations in Source Selection About the Author Charles D. Solloway, Jr., CPCM, has more than 40 years of acquisition experience in the government and private sector. As a civilian employee of the U. S. Army, he held positions as buyer, contract specialist, contract negotiator, procurement analyst, contracting officer, and director of contracting. He twice received the U. S. Army’s highest civilian award, the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, for innovations in contracting. He is the author of Source Selection Step by Step and Managing Federal Government Contracts: The Answer Book. He is a Fellow of the National Contract Management Association.