Business Papers

Slide #

Scene/Interaction

Narration

Slide 1

Scene 1

Semi-large building (VectorCal) and have avatar inserted to represent her entering the building

Slide 2

Scene 2

Introduction to the week

Takes place in Dominic’s office

Dominic leads Sally down the hallway to Melissa’s office

Dominic: Good morning Sally!

Welcome back!

How was your first week at VectorCal?

Sally: Well hello Dominic. . . Last week was fantastic! I can’t believe how much I learned in one week at this position.

Dominic: Great because this week you are going to be working with Melissa Mason our Department Head for Government Contracting to talk about contracting methods, sealed bidding, and government contract types.

Please follow me!

Sally: Sounds good! Let’s go!

Slide 3

Scene 3

Melissa’s office to go over key concepts related to government contracting

Dominic: Sally, I would like to introduce you to Melissa again, you met during our introduction conference last week. As I said before you will be working with her this week on a special project involving a government contract.

Dominic: Melissa this is Sally, you two met last week briefly.

I would like you to show Sally what you and this department do to make sure we are following all of the U.S. government and military regulations for conducting business.

Melissa: I’m excited to get started Dominic! I would very much enjoy showing Sally what we do here in the Government Contracting Office.

Melissa: Sally, please follow me and let’s get started.

Slide 4

Scene 4

Melissa’s office to go over key concepts related to government contracting

Melissa: So where should we start at? I think a good place to start is with the information Dominic gave you. What did Dominic cover with you?

Sally: Well, last week I spent a lot of time with Dominic as he covered a lot of what you all do here at VectorCal.

Melissa: Great! Can you tell me a little bit about what you know about government contracting?

Sally: Sure thing! I remember when I was in school we learned that the federal acquisition regulations have two acceptable procedures for obtaining competitive prices. I’m pretty sure the first procedure dealt with sealed bidding. I recall this is a process by which government needs are made known by a solicitation called an Invitation for Bids. I also know that sealed bidding is used when the government contracting officer decides that adequate price competition exists and that the specification or statement of work is well enough defined to enable offers to bid on a fixed-price basis.

Melissa: That is a great start! You have properly identified one of our first procedures. We will now move on to the second procedure we may utilize. But, first do you have any questions?

Sally: I actually do have one question. I noticed that VectorCal doesn’t really have that much competition for its products, especially inside the country, so which approach does the government use with your company?

Melissa: That is a very good question and I will explain this operation to you now. The second acceptable procedure for obtaining competitive prices is referred to as competitive proposals. This is a process by which the government needs are made known by a solicitation called a Request for Quotation or a Request for Proposals. Here at VectorCal, weare the only company already producing the navigation system for General Atomics, the company that produces the Predator C Avenger. As a result of this, we have already achieved a good set of cost cutting strategies on a large scale through the buying practices for the materials needed to build our systems.

Sally: That definitely adds some clarity now!

Melissa: The process doesn’t end there though! Next,my department had to see which of the five categories of contract types is being used by the government. These five categories are important to identify and consist of the following:

Fixed-price contracts;

Cost-reimbursement contracts;

Incentive contracts;

Indefinite-delivery contracts; and

Time-and materials contracts.

We will look at the first two categories,thusfixed-price and cost-reimbursement contracts. The other three categories are special modifications of either fixed-price contracts or cost-reimbursement contracts. We can take a closer look at these three other categories next time you are rotating in my department.

Sally: That sounds good to me! I’m excited to explore these concepts further!

Melissa: That’s great! Let’s get started, Sally what do you know about these contract types?

Slide 5

Scene 5

Melissa’s office to go over key concepts related to government contracting

Sally: Well I know that in fixed-price contracts, the costs of performance can be predicted with great accuracy. Firm-fixed price contracts places the total cost risk on the contractor. The person whobids or proposes to a firm a fixed price to do work is guaranteeing to deliver the work to meet the requirements for that amount of money. I think that when the government accepts the offer, it is obligated to pay that amount of money and the contractor is similarly obligated to deliver or perform the work for that fixed price. Is this correct?

Melissa: You are very correct with your explanation. When determining the cost of our materials, the direct and indirect expensesfor the future was something the CEO was not comfortable with.

Sally: What about cost reimbursement contracts which are almost always awarded as the result of negotiations? I know that cost-reimbursement contracts provide for payment of the contractor’s allowable incurred costs to the extent prescribed in the contract. Aren’t these contracts used when the costs of performing the contract work cannot be predicted with high accuracy at the time of signing the contract?

Melissa: That is a very excellent point and an even better question! Keep in mind that cost reimbursement contracts establish an estimate of total costs for purposes of obligating funds and stating a ceiling that the contractor must not exceed except at its own risk. This also means that the government is carrying all, or essentially all of the cost risk in a cost-reimbursement contract.

Sally: That makes a lot of sense now! I guess I knew more about these conceptsthanI originally thought! Melissa, what method does VectorCal use?

Melissa: Well, it really depends on the contract. For example, if the contract calls for a fixed fee, the government must pay that fee. So in this case VectorCal would be using a fixed-price contract.

Sally: Thank you for sharing that with me, I can see why the identification of categories is an important task.

Melissa: I sense that you have a good foundation for the many tasks that my office does to support the company.

Let’s continue our discussion with something new.

Slide 6

Scene 6

Melissa’s office to go over key concepts related to government contracting

Melissa: Sally, Have you ever heard of the Simplified Acquisition Procedures?

Sally: I think I remember a little about this concept from one of my classes. Doesn’t Simplified Acquisition Procedures apply to purchases below the small purchaselimitation; I recall this as being one hundred thousand dollars for all agencies?

Melissa: You are doing great! What else do you recall?

Sally: I’m pretty sure these procedures do not apply to ordering from Federal Supply Schedules or delivering orders placed against existing contracts. I also know that the small purchase and simplified purchase procedures emphasize simplicity and minimal administrative costs. I remember that oral solicitations are normally used, although very simple written quotations may be used under certain circumstances.

Melissa: Right you are! Great job Sally! Where did you attend school at again? I’m shocked because most of our new employees don’t usually know nearly as much as you do.

Sally: I attended Strayer University of course!

Melissa: Wow Strayer really educates and prepares their students for successful careers! I need to look into this school and see if they offer an online program I can enroll a couple of my employees into.

Melissa: Sally, I would now like for you to go through some interactive training materials to help build upon some key concepts from today’s lesson.

Slide 7

Scene 7

Tab interaction that will have audio for each tab.

Users will click each item and be greeting with images and narration.

Simplified acquisitions are theprocedures applied to purchases below the small purchase limitation, which is presently one hundred thousand dollars for all agencies. These procedures do not apply to ordering from Federal Supply Schedules or to delivery orders placed against existing contracts. The small purchase and simplified purchase procedures also emphasize simplicity and minimal administrative costs.

Cost reimbursement contracts arecontracts that provide for payments of the contractor’s allowable incurred costs to the extent prescribed in the contract. These contracts are used when the costs of performing the contract work cannot be predicted with high accuracy at the time of signing the contract. A cost reimbursement contract also establishes an estimate of total costs for purposes of obligating funds and stating a ceiling that the contractor must not exceed except at its own risk.

Fixed-price contractsplace the total cost risk on the contractor. The offer who bids or proposes a firm a fixed price to do work is guaranteeing to deliver the work to meet requirements for that amount of money.

Sealed Bidding is the activity of preparing an acquisition request that describes its needs and cites funds for the acquisition. The upcoming acquisition is publicized through distribution to prospective bidders and posted in public places. The price that was bid on by each offer becomes publicly known once the bids are opened. Sealed bidding always leads to a firm-fixed-price contract or fixed-price with economic adjustment contract.

Slide 8

Scene 7

Check Your Understanding

Match correct category:

1) Simplified acquisition

2) Cost reimbursement

3) Fixed-price

4) Sealed Bidding

The on the right hand side place –” Procedure” “Contract”

1 & 2 are procedures; 2 & 3 are contracts

Slide 9

Scene 9

Conference room with Melissa to go over the week’s key points.

Melissa: Great job going through the training materials Sally!

Let’s now summarize what we discussed this week.

First, we covered the two acceptable procedures for obtaining competitive prices. We learned that the first such procedure is sealed bidding, which is used when the contracting officer decides that adequate price competition exists. We also discovered that government needs are made known by a solicitation called an Invitation for Bids. Later we noted that sealed bidding leads to a firm fixed-price or firm fixed-price with economic adjustment contract.

Sally, what do you remember about competitiveproposals?

Sally: Well, we learned thatcompetitive proposals are the second acceptable procedure for obtaining competitive prices. Government needs are made known by a solicitation called a Request for Quotation or a Request for Proposals.

Melissa: Very good Sally. Later, we discussedcost reimbursement contracts and learned that these contracts are always awarded as the result of negotiations. These contracts are used when the costs of performing the contract work cannot be predicted with high accuracy at the time of signing the contract. We alsosaw that the government is carrying all, or essentially all, the cost risk in a cost-reimbursement contract.

And of course, we also looked at simplified acquisition procedures, which apply to purchases below one hundred thousand dollars. I was very impressed that you already knew brief information about simplified acquisition procedures. We learned that for such acquisitions, the contracting officer has broad discretion in determining price reasonableness, but this determination can only be based on some form of price analysis.

Sally: Thanks for the review Melissa!

I felt that I learned a lot during my time with you this week. I also feel that I really expanded my knowledge on government contracting and actually knew a lot more about this subject thanI thought.

Melissa:It has been a pleasure working with you this week Sally. I look forward to working with you again and showing you other key aspects of my department.

Until then, don’t forget to complete your weekly discussion questions based on your learning experiences this week.

Have a good rest of the day and I will see you soon!

Sally: Thanks Melissa and I truly appreciate all the time you have spent with me! You really opened my eyes to what you’re department does and how it operates.

Melissa: It was my pleasure! Take care now!