The contract management body of knowledge: a comparison of contracting competencies

• Main Author: Albano, Jonathan D.
• Other Authors: Rendon, Rene G.
• Published: Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School 2014
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/38869

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. === Contract management is instrumental in supporting the mission of the Department of Defense (DoD) but continues to face significant problems with regard to management and oversight. The skills and training of contracting personnel continues to be a contributing factor to DoDs contracting deficiencies. Additionally, as the DoD and other federal agencies continue to lose experienced contracting personnel due to retirement, the contracting knowledge gap continues to widen. In response to increasing knowledge deficiencies in contract management, DoD and other federal agencies have put more emphasis on training and certification. Despite this, contract management problems continue to exist. Perhaps the training received by the workforce does not reflect basic contracting competencies and perhaps contracting competencies between the government and industry are inconsistent. This research conducted a detailed comparative analysis of the contracting competencies established by the DoD, the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI), and the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). It identified similarities and differences in the models and competencies. Both NCMAs Contract Management Body of Knowledge (CMBOK) and DoD/FAIs competency models contain categories reflecting two out of three phases of the contract life cycle. The CMBOK contains both Pre-Award and Post-Award categories whereas DoD/FAIs model contains one category titled Pre-Award and Award. Contracting competencies established by the DoD/FAI compare favorably to those set forth in the CMBOK. Of the 19 technical contracting competencies analyzed, 17 were covered by both DoD/FAI and the CMBOK. The level of detail provided in the CMBOK is much greater than that of DoD/FAI competency model.