Graded Homework

Strayer BUS505
Week 1 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week 1 Discussion 1

“Winning New Business”Please respond to the
following:

• Analyze
  the list of common proposal mistakes discussed in Chapter 1 and determine
  which types of mistakes are probably the most commonly made. Explain your
  rationale. Then, discuss how you as a manager would work to ensure those
  who work with you are mindful of the common mistakes.
• Review
  the 10 characteristics of winning bids listed in Figure 1-1 and propose at
  least one more that would further describe a winning bid. Explain your
  rationale.

Week 1 Discussion 2

“Anatomy of a Government RFP”Please respond to the
following:

• Analyze
  the elements of a RFP and determine which section is the most difficult to
  correctly complete. Explain your rationale. Recommend at least two tips or
  practices that can be employed to simplify the process.
• Assume
  you have been hired by the federal government to redesign the RFP format
  that is referenced in Figure 2.1 in Chapter 2 of the textbook. Explain
  what changes you would make and why.

Strayer BUS505
Week 2 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week 2 Discussion 1

“Federal Government Source Selection”Please respond to the
following:

• Assume
  you own a small company that makes widgets. Carefully review the federal
  government acquisition process and determine how you would best position
  yourself long before you place your first government bid. Discuss the
  benefits of your preparations.
• Analyze
  the elements of both the technical evaluation and the past performance
  evaluation. Next, determine which is the most difficult to evaluate from
  the federal government perspective and how you (as a business owner) could
  make the evaluation process easier. Then, directly respond to the
  assessment of a fellow learner and evaluate his or her post (on-ground
  students will discuss the positions).

Week 2 Discussion 2

“Strategic Business Planning”Please
respond to the following:

• Assume
  you own a company that manufactures a specific product of your choice. Create
  a one-paragraph mission statement that addresses the what, who, how, and
  why of your company. Then, discuss how each component is addressed in your
  mission statement.
• Based
  on the same company you described above, create a strategic business model
  that incorporates the four major elements of strategic business modeling
  discussed in Chapter 4 of the textbook.

Strayer BUS505
Week 3 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week 3 Discussion 1

“Long Term Positioning”Please respond to the
following:

• Analyze
  the elements of collecting market information and determine which would
  provide the most valuable information to a company seeking business with
  the federal government. Explain your rationale.
• Review
  the eight types of information the author recommends go into a bid
  proposal library, as discussed in Osborne’s “Long Term Positioning,” and
  recommend at least one additional type of information that could / should
  be included. Provide your rationale.
• Review
  the various improper practices and conflicts discussed in Chapter 5, and
  make at least one recommendation for preventing them or stopping them
  before they become a significant issue. Explain your rationale.

Week 3 Discussion 2

“Sealed Bidding”Please respond to the
following:

• Describe
  the purpose, general requirements, and awarding of the contract in a
  sealed- bidding process. From the e-Activity, provide at least two
  examples where sealed bidding had a positive effect on the contract
  selection process.
• Discuss
  two of the problems that might be encountered by an agency in producing a
  sealed bid, and how apparent and obvious mistakes can be addressed. From
  the e-Activity, provide at least two examples to support your response.

Strayer BUS505
Week 4 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week 4 Discussion 1

“Pre-Proposal Phase
Activities”Please respond to the following:

• Evaluate
  the overall phase of pre-proposal activities based on the best practices
  identified in Chapter 7 and make at least one recommendation for improving
  the phase. Provide specific examples that illustrate how your
  recommendation would help.
• Determine
  and discuss the worst possible mistake a proposal team could make during
  the pre-proposal phase. Explain your rationale. Identify a strategy that
  prevents this mistake.

Week 4 Discussion 2

“Bid Strategy”Please respond to the following:

• Analyze
  customer assessments, program requirements, and competitive assessments,
  and determine which of the three would be the most difficult to collect
  information for and why. From the e-Activity, make at least one
  recommendation to address the difficulty you have identified.
• Analyze
  the specific bid strategies section of the text and compare what the
  author says to what you discovered in the e-Activity.

Strayer BUS505
Week 5 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week
5 Discussion 1

“Building and Organizing the Capture Team”Please respond to the
following:

• Analyze
  the roles and responsibilities of capture team members and determine which
  two roles could be combined into a single role. Explain your rationale.
• Analyze
  the required qualifications of capture team leaders and determine which
  leadership role best suits you (where you would be the most successful).
  Explain your rationale.

Week 5 Discussion 2

“Contractor Qualifications”Please respond to the
following:

• Assume
  you were preparing to be a contractor. Identify what you would begin to
  work on first to sure up your qualifications. As part of this process,
  analyze the three types of materials used to assess contractor
  qualifications and determine which types would yield the most viable
  information. Explain your rationale.
• Develop
  a one-paragraph scenario that exemplifies behavior discerning debarment or
  suspension. Provide specific examples to support your reasoning. Discuss
  the necessity of such communications.

Strayer BUS505
Week 6 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week
6 Discussion 1

“Analyzing Customer Requirements”Please respond to the
following:

• Based
  on the e-Activity, describe how you could leverage the ambiguous language
  you found in the RFP. Provide specific examples to support your response.
• Analyze
  each of the key proposal preparation documents discussed in Osborne’s
  “Developing a Proposal Preparation Plan” and recommend at least one
  additional document that would help you analyze customer requirements.

Week 6 Discussion 2

“Developing a Proposal Plan”Please
respond to the following:

• The
  author states that a proposal outline that deviates from the order of
  instructions in Section L will almost guarantee a losing proposal. Discuss
  possible strategies for not following the instructions in Section L that
  might still result in winning the proposal.
• Analyze
  the contents and intent of the author guide outlined in Chapter 10 of the
  textbook. Determine the section with which you believe most proposal teams
  would have the most difficulty. Explain your rationale.

Strayer BUS505
Week 7 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week
7 Discussion 1

“Preparing the Winning Cost Volume”Please respond to the
following:

• Evaluate
  the list of common cost proposal mistakes described in Chapter 14 of the
  textbook. Select three from the list and determine the most likely cause
  of each mistake. Suggest a recommended action that either the federal
  government or the offerer could take to avoid the mistake in the future.
• Determine
  which of the following would be more difficult to execute correctly across
  the greatest number of projects: preparing cost estimates or preparing the
  cost volume. Explain your rationale.

Week 7 Discussion 2

“Types of Contracts”Please
respond to the following:

• From
  the e-Activity, identify a contract offering that you believe is
  beneficial to the government. Describe the type of contract based on what
  is described in Chapter 16 of the textbook and explain why you believe the
  government has benefitted from the contract.
• From
  the e-Activity, identify a contract offering that you believe is
  beneficial to the offerer. Describe the type of contract based on what is
  described in Chapter 16 of the textbook and explain why you believe the
  offerer has benefitted from the contract.

Strayer BUS505
Week 8 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week
8 Discussion 1

“Writing the Winning Proposal”Please respond to the
following:

• Drawing
  upon your experience writing papers for this class, discuss three additional
  tips for writing the first draft of a proposal. Provide specific examples
  to support your response.
• Evaluate
  all the elements of writing the proposal outlined in Chapter 12 of the
  textbook and determine the three most critical elements that are more
  important than all the others. Explain your rationale.

Week 8 Discussion 2

“Tips for Effective Proposal Writing”Please
respond to the following:

• Discuss
  the degree to which the proposals you found in the e-Activity followed the
  tips for effective proposal writing found in Chapter 13 of Osborne. Cite
  where you obtained the proposals. Then, discuss the main area where
  deviation was present and speculate as to why.
• Using
  the criteria presented in Chapter 13 of the textbook for writing effective
  proposals, rewrite at least one section of a proposal that you identified
  through the e-Activity and explain why you made those changes.

Strayer BUS505
Week 9 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week
9 Discussion 1

“Proposal Reviews”Please respond to the
following:

• Evaluate
  the list of common cost proposal mistakes based on the recommendations in
  Chapter 15 of the textbook. Select three from the list, and determine the
  most likely cause of each. Then, recommend a strategy that either the
  federal government or offerer could take to avoid the mistake in the
  future.
• Determine
  which proposal review would be the most effective in gaining a competitive
  advantage based on the reviews in Chapter 15 and explain why. Create a new
  review that’s not part of the review process listed in Chapter 15 and
  describe how the review adds value to the process.

Week 9 Discussion 2

“Proposal Production and Improper Business
Practice”Please respond to the following:

• Analyze
  the different types of revisions discussed in Osborne’s “Proposal Reviews”
  and recommend a completely different review process that would be just as
  effective or better. Explain your rationale.
• Analyze
  the statutes (laws) designed to curtail improper practices and conflicts
  and make at least one recommendation to improve the current system.
  Explain your rationale.

Strayer BUS505
Week 10 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

Week
10 Discussion 1

“Post-Proposal Submittal Phase”Please respond to the
following:

• Review
  the steps involved in the final proposal production phase that are
  described in Chapter 18 of the textbook and make at least one
  recommendation for improving the process. Explain your rationale. Then,
  evaluate the recommendation of one fellow learner (on-ground students will
  discuss the recommendations in class).
• Discuss
  how a successful debriefing could benefit a company in future proposals.
  Include the areas of importance to discover in debriefing and what
  information is available to those who were not awarded the contract.

Week 10 Discussion 2

“Contract Award and Performance”Please
respond to the following:

• Review
  the procuring agency, Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the U.S.
  Court of Federal Claims forums presented in Chapter 33. Then, describe an
  actual case where a protestor is arguing using one of the forums.
• Devise
  a strategy for significantly limiting the number of post-proposal
  inquiries you might receive. Provide specific examples to support your
  response.

Strayer BUS505
Week 11 Discussion 1 & 2 latest 2016 August

dq 1

Week 11 Discussion 1

“Looking Back”Please
respond to the following:

• Thinking back on everything you
  have learned in this course, what single lesson learned was the most
  surprising or interesting. Explain what made it so.
• Describe the most difficult
  concept or process addressed in this course. Create an analogy that would
  help someone encountering that concept or process for the first time to
  better understand what it is about.

dq 2

Week 11 Discussion 2

“Looking Ahead”Please
respond to the following:

• Discuss how you can effectively
  apply what you have learned in this class even if you wind up in a
  position that has absolutely nothing to do with contracting with the
  federal government.
• Imagine yourself five years from
  now working for a firm (or perhaps head of your own firm) that gets 100%
  of its business from the federal government. Discuss what you would like
  the most and what you would like the least of being in such a position.