Strayer BUS505 All Discussion Questions / Strayer University

BUS 505 All Discussion Questions / Strayer UniversityWeek 1 DQ 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 DQ 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.Week 2 DQ 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 DQ 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.Week 3 DQ 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 DQ 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.Week 4 DQ 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 DQ 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.Week 5 DQ 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 DQ 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.Week 6 DQ 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 DQ 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.Week 7 DQ 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 DQ 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.Week 8 DQ 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 DQ 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.Week 9 DQ 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 15and describe how the review adds value to the process.Week 9 DQ 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 bejust 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.Week 10 DQ 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 DQ 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 rationale.