Competing goals of the Governmentwide Purchase Card Program
Subtitle: customer satisfaction, vendor rotation, fair and reasonable pricing Thomas E. Leard
Publisher: Naval Postgraduate School; Available from National Technical Information Service
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Monterey, Calif; Springfield, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 86
Description: The rapidly developing Government wide Commercial Purchase Card (GCPC) Program primarily affects commercial procurements valued at $2,500 or less, which comprise more than 90 percent of all acquisition transactions. It is considered a major contributor to streamlining the procurement process. The program is efficient, but little research has been done on its effectiveness. This thesis analyzed the Navy/Marine Corps Purchase Card Program by modeling the purchasing process, then determining if the program goals of customer satisfaction, rotating orders among vendors, and obtaining products and services at a fair and reasonable price were effectively achieved or whether goal conflicts in any way hindered full implementation of the program. Specifically, measurements were collected on goal achievement and goal congruence at the installation level using the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) as an example. The NPS program was effective in achieving strategic goals. While end-users anticipated a potential problem meeting the goal of vendor rotation while also achieving customer satisfaction and a fair and reasonable price, there was actually no significant problem found in achieving all three goals. There was fundamental goal congruence. The methodology presented could be used      for further research, potentially streamlining the program for other installations by determining the effectiveness of goal achievement.
Notes: Thesis advisor(s): James L. Kerber, Mark W. Stone.

"June 1998."

Thesis (M.S. in Management) Naval Postgraduate School, June 1998.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-84)

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

Also available online.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.

US Marine Corps (USMC) author.

dk/dk cc:9116 7/10/98.