ABSTRACT
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acquires billions of dollars of mission critical supplies and services every year. An integral part of DoD acquisition is the defense contract management process. This entry provides an overview of the DoD contract management processes and policies. First, a discussion on the various terms related to contract management is presented. Next, a comparison of public sector and private sector contracting is discussed highlighting the major differences. The defense contract management process is then presented, covering the preaward and postaward phases along with a discussion of some of the more critical statutes and governing regulations. Finally, issues in defense contract management are presented, including a discussion on high-risk deficiencies plaguing defense contract management along with a discussion of the lack of auditability in defense acquisition organizations.
