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innovative technology to Joint Base MDL leaders, and five of them walked away with a one-page contract in hand and an initial payment in the bank (Golden, 2019). The primary purpose of this research is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, and best practices of the CSO as a solicitation technique leading to a contract award. Our work is a combination of intellectual and practical action research. Its purpose is to provide DoD organizations and their workforces with a consolidated report analyzing available data on the CSO solicitation technique and making recommendations based on the use of CSOs. This article is based on the graduate thesis by co-authors Eric W. Washburn and Mary Beth Colavito (Washburn & Colavito, 2023).
Assessment of different individuals’ varied interpretation and implementation of the flexible process to meet their specific program and agency goals will inform the categorization of strengths, weaknesses, and best practices.
We use an action research design, based on a qualitative approach, using an observation data collection method with document analysis of the CSO Cross Talks (George, 2024). Our research methodology will consist of extensive direct feedback captured from CSO Cross Talk meetings among Defense Agency points of contact who have previously conducted CSOs or are working to develop CSO policies/procedures at their individual agencies. These feedback meetings are led by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition (Contracting; SAF/ AQC). This information will be reviewed for strengths and weaknesses regarding training and information sharing, internal agency processes, solicitation definition, and industry interaction. Assessment of different individuals’ varied interpretation and implementation of the flexible process to meet their specific program and agency goals will inform the categorization of strengths, weaknesses, and best practices. Similar direct user feedback will be discussed as compiled for and documented in other published briefings and reports. Our final results will be presented in the form of recommendations that DoD and its contracting offices can best leverage to implement CSOs.
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Defense ARJ , Spring 2025, Vol. 32 No. 1
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