The Joint Effects-Based Contracting Execution System: A Proposed Enabling Concept for Future Joint Expeditionary Contracting Execution

Abstract

The purpose of this Master of Business Administration Professional Report is to deliver a concept enabling joint effects-based contracting (EBC) execution throughout all of the following phases of the combatant commander's (CCDR's) campaign plan: shaping, deterring, seizing the initiative, dominating, and stabilizing and enabling (Phases 0-V), respectively. Under the enabling civil authority phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the Commanding General of the Joint Contracting Command-Iraq/Afghanistan (JCC-I/A) pioneered effects-based contracting (EBC) to align tactical contracting efforts with the strategic objectives of the OIF campaign plan. The JCC-I/A accomplished this by integrating contingency contracting officers (CCOs) with the warfighters operational planning cycles, linking contracting efforts with desired strategic operational effects, and prioritizing contracting work based on the warfighters main efforts. This project applies EBC methodologies and the systems engineering process to introduce the framework for the Joint Effects-based Contracting Execution System (JEBCES) an integrated composite of people, products, and processes to deliver an acquisition capability. Within this framework, the researchers propose a Phase-based Acquisition Capability (PBAC) to enable forward-leaning, responsive joint expeditionary contract support. This framework emphasizes providing future CCOs with a pre-awarded, rapidly deployable acquisition capability, thereby creating greater uniformity and efficiency in joint EBC execution.