New Book on Developing and Managing Government Contracts

April 29, 2010 - PRLog -- A guidebook through the minefield of government contracting and procurement, Government Contracting: Promises and Perils describes the dangerous practices commonly applied in the development and management of government contracts and provides advice for avoiding the sort of errors that might compromise their ability to protect the public interest. It includes strategies for increasing profits for government contractors, rather than incurring burdensome costs, through compliance with government mandated subcontracting and financial management systems.

The author examines present-day scenarios that regularly lead public servants and government committees to manage contracts with tools that are less than optimal and to select contractors that may not be the best qualified. He then delineates practical processes, contracting documents, and contract management tools to mitigate detrimental outcomes and alternative approaches to supplant the imperfect methodologies. The book also outlines an approach for performing advance contract planning for management of the process throughout the contracting cycle, negotiating a contract that protects the interest of all parties, and ensuring successful contractor performance.

The book contains a “Government Procurement Corruption Wall of Shame” that illustrates the myriad perils and stumbling blocks such as conflicts of interest, duplicity, favoritism, incompetence, kickbacks, and protests. Filled with best practices that protect you from nefarious, amateurish, and criminal mistakes that frequently lead to harsh consequences, the coverage does not end with discussions of corruption, mismanagement, and ineptitude, but provides practical processes and strategies to diminish the negative impacts from these government contracting perils.

Endorsements

“Mr. Curry’s book integrates an emphasis on strong acquisition planning up-front in the acquisition life cycle… Effective acquisition planning leads toward more successful achievement of mission objectives within cost, schedule and scope parameters in a post –award contract management environment.”
—John Dobriansky, CPCM, NCMA Fellow, National Contract Management Association

“This book and supplemental material gives any contracting professional a plethora of sound advice and real tools with which to design, develop and implement contracts in a professional and ethical manner. A must for any contract professional’s desk.”
—Greg Sanger, PhD, SpectraSensors

"This book fills an important gap in teaching contracting in public administration graduate programs. Managers, contractors, and students of this dynamic field will find in this volume a wealth of practical techniques and policy ideas for sound and ethical contracting."
—M. Ernita Joaquin, PhD, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

About the Author

William Sims Curry authored the 2008 book Contracting for Services in State and Local Government Agencies. Prior to writing the 2008 book he wrote numerous articles that were published in periodicals published by professional contracting and public administration associations. He also conducted seminars and workshops on the topics discussed in his articles. Curry developed the curriculum and taught college courses in the field of Materials Management.  

Curry was first introduced to the contracting field as an Air Force Systems Procurement Officer while participating in the procurement of or staff support for command, control and communications programs as well as space systems and ballistic missile programs.  Following his retirement as a procurement officer in the United States Air Force, he worked in contracting or purchasing for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center on the Positron Electron Project and for several private sector corporations in the aerospace and defense field on the Hubble Space Telescope and various Department of Defense programs.  Curry’s first exposure to state and local government contracting began when he became a County Purchasing Services Manager and continued through his subsequent positions as a County Deputy Administrative Officer and then as a County General Services Director.  Following his retirement as General Services Director, he continues his involvement in federal, state and local government contracting through independent research projects and consulting assignments.

William Sims Curry has been a long-term member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA).  He was designated by the NCMA as a Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM) and received the award of NCMA Fellow.  Mr. Curry was on the Board of Directors for the Industry Council for Small Business Development (a not-for-profit corporation established to assist small, small disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses) and held various elected offices including President. Curry also held or holds membership in the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), Counties General Services Association (CGSA), National Institute for Governmental Purchasing (NIGP), and the California Association of Public Purchasing Officers (CAPPO) where he also wrote and presented professional development papers.

Curry received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Florida State University, Beta Gamma Sigma, and a Masters in Business Administration from Ohio State University.

Government Contracting: Promises and Perils
ISBN: 978-1-4200-8565-5, 312 pp., 2010, Hard Back

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