Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / The role of the contracting officer has evolved through our nation's history from one of simply an intermediary between supplier and consumer to that of a sophisticated manager of requirements and resources. In the execution of his many and varied duties and responsibilities, the present-day contracting officer must interact with a variety of individuals and organizations. This report attempts to identify these various relationships, to analyze their characteristics, and to determine how each affects the contracting officer' s accomplishment of his primary tasks and responsibilities. The researcher proposes a model of the contracting officer's environment and identifies ten relationships involving the contracting officer which appear to predominate in this environment. The 169 procurement tasks compiled by Fowler from previous research are analyzed in the context of these relationships . The researcher concludes by revising the proposed model and suggesting that it be further refined by subsequent field validation. / http://archive.org/details/characteristicse00lawl / Captain, United States Army

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This study examines the effects of acquisition reform on Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs) and Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs) who contracted with DOD during the 1990s through 2002 timeframe. Review and analysis of DOD data for fiscal years 1992 through 2002, an analysis of websites and acquisition literature, and interviews with DOD contracting and small business specialists provided the basis for this study. It identifies acquisition reform legislation enacted in the 1990s that has had a direct impact on WOSBs and SDBs and examines the charge that the practice of contract bundling has negatively impacted the ability of small businesses to win DOD contracts. An analysis of contract bundling data from the Small Business Office of Advocacy, Congress and DOD demonstrates that the data is insufficient and inconsistent to prove or disprove that contract bundling is negatively impacting small businesses. However, DOD data for fiscal years 1992 through 2002 indicates that DOD contracting with WOSBs improved consistently, particularly after enactment of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994 which mandated that the federal government, inclusive of DOD, award five percent of total yearly procurement dollars to WOSBs. / Civilian, United States Army