Contracting and Ethics - Assignment Example

However, according to the records the individual was able to access non- public propriety information regarding the protester’s performance of the contract that was incumbent, thus appearing to be challenged procurement. Therefore AGPH should be excluded from the competitive bid as it used the services of a former government staff which is unethical with regard to government laws on contracts. With regard to protesting the bid, Government Accountability Office (GAO) will issue the decision arrived at regarding the protest within the hundred days after it has been filed.

GAO considers protests that concerns awards of subcontracts by or sales of a federal agency, or of a federal agency, or procurements made by the government agencies other than the Federal agencies. According to Lebowitz (2009) asserted that If GAO finds out that the award is not in compliance with the regulations it may recommend the AGPH to pay the protester the costs of filing and pursuing the protest, and the bid and proposal preparation. In addition, protests are dismissed on the basis of; contract administration; contracting officer’s affirmative responsibility; and procurement integrity. 2. Since TMA was in the Department of Defense (D.O.D) responsible for awarding and management of contracts.

Through the issuance of an RFP the issuance of contracts was to undergo evaluation before being awarded. This includes using the technical approach, past performance and finally price/cost. By employing the services of a former employee of TMA it means the whole process is flawed as he had access to information not available to the public. Therefore, AGPH should have utilized the rating scheme for purpose of evaluating on technical merit. According to the Agency Report (AR) Tab 86, of the Source Selection Evaluation Guide (SSEG) at 11-12, a flaw in the proposal increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance.

Also, TMA should evaluate each of the sub factors stemming from proposal risk. With regard to assessment of the ethics issue relevance rating is vital. In assessment and assignment of performance the following rating scheme is utilized; exceptional, satisfactory, marginal and not satisfactory. TMA is to receive time proposals from entities like AGHP for the contracts of the North Region. TMA’s is to commence evaluation and selection process with the establishment of three evaluation teams: firstly is the technical evaluation team (TET), which is to evaluate technical proposals; performance assessment group (PAG), which evaluates past performance information of offeror’s; and the price/cost unit, tasked with analyzing the price/cost proposals.

The teams’ findings are then to be submitted to the chairperson of the Source Selection Evaluation Board (SSEB), who prepares best value award recommendation and evaluation report for consideration by source selection authority (SSA). The SSA following advice from the source selection advisory council (SSAC) makes the final decision on best value award (G.A.O, 2009). 3. So as to avoid malpractices in the bidding and contracting processes integrity is paramount. The AGPH and TMA should set integrity mechanisms in their organizations.

It is useful to conduct interviews including the very key individuals within the TMA who presumably would have wider direct knowledge of the activities of the former government employee. Also