An External Stakeholder Analysis of a United States Army Directorate of Contracting

The purpose of a United States Army Directorate of Contracting (DOC) is to award or execute contracts for supplies or services and perform post-award contract administration functions for the Army installation and Army units stationed at the installation. The DOC accomplishes its purpose within the context of the Federal Acquisition System's Vision, which is to deliver on a timely basis the best value product or service to the customer, while maintaining the public's trust and fulfilling public policy objectives. A DOC must consider many external stakeholders to achieve its purpose. The basic premise of this thesis research is to improve a DOC's organizational effectiveness through the examination of its external environment, particularly, external stakeholders. The concept of stakeholder management concentrates on an organization’s need to consider its relationships with specific stakeholder groups. An organization’s ability to satisfy the desires of key stakeholders, meeting the stakeholders’ criteria, is the key to an effective organization. Data were gathered from 15 government stakeholders and 14 contractors using a questionnaire that addressed such questions as: What are your organizations expectations and requirements of the DOC? How well did the DOC meet your needs and expectations? Does your organization control a resource needed by the DOC? The thesis summarizes findings and provides recommendations. The overall benefit of this thesis research is improved environmental awareness, which enables the DOC to become more effective in achieving its mission and meeting the desires of its external stakeholders.