Agencies should pay special attention to Requirement 1, the "evaluation of the significant weak or deficient factors in the offeror's proposal" because the evaluation is open-ended, unlike Requirements 2-3, which contain definite numerical standards, and Requirement 4, which only requires a simple summary. Open-ended evaluations can vary greatly in quality and also increase the opportunities for the agency to make a mistake.
If it is a particularly confusing or shallow evaluation, an unsuccessful offeror might take issue with the soundness of the agency's decision and later move to Protest the Bid by claiming that the evaluation demonstrated unsound judgment or unfair treatment. Because Bid Protests to the Government Accountability Office receive an automatic stay of performance, even a weak protest could delay a project significantly.
Because of the disruptive potential of Bid Protests, Agencies should use debriefings as an opportunity to resolve any lingering grievances and remove any ammunition that the unsuccessful offeror may have for protesting the bid. Agencies can accomplish this by doing very thorough evaluations which anticipate and address likely grievances from unsuccessful offerors. Rumbaugh recommends that "the debriefings provide offerors with positive, constructive, and comprehensive feedback, demonstrating that the government is interested in their future success."
Offerors should "feel as if they've gotten the "complete story" about their evaluation."
Conclusion
Although bid protests are very annoying the average agency, they seem to have achieved their purpose by promoting agency hyper-compliance with source selection procedures, thereby reducing opportunities for corruption and misconduct among agencies. Because bid protests are costly to both the agency and the contract winners, the mere threat of protest provides incentives for agencies to "design and operate source-selection processes that are transparent in terms of promoting compliance with the law; fair in terms of access to contracting opportunities; and effective in terms of responsiveness to Congressional preferences."
Thus, as long as agencies remain diligent and focused in compliance, the legislative purpose of the bid protest system, and of the source selection system, will be fulfilled.
Bibliography
Federal Acquisition Regulation Source Selection Statute 15.3 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/html/Subpart%2015_3.html
Acquisition Community Connection https://acc.dau.mil/CommunityBrowser.aspx?id=18888
ACQ Center (2003) Source Selection: Common Myths and Misconceptions NIH AMC Symposium Nov. 9, 2004 oamp.od.nih.gov/.../AMCSymposium.
Maser, S.M., Subbotin, V., & Thompson, F. (2010) The GAO's Bid-Protest Mechanism: Effectiveness and Fairness in Defense Acquisition? Working Paper Atkins School of Management Willamette University. Available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1616424
Rumbaugh, M.G. (2010) Understanding Agency Contract Source Selection. Vienna: Management Concepts
GAO Office of General Counsel (1996) Bid Protests at GAO: A Descriptive Guide. Sixth Edition, 1996 GAO/OGC-96-24 http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/og96024.htm#PAGE5
United States Government Accountability Office - Office of General...
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