Warrant Prep 03 - Organizational Conflict Of Interest

Front 1

What is an "Organizational Conflict of Interest?"

Back 1

“Organizational conflict of interest” means that because of other activities or relationships with other persons, a person is unable or potentially unable to:

1. Render impartial assistance or advice to the Government, or the
   
2. Person's objectivity in performing the contract work is or might be otherwise impaired, or a
   
3. Person has an unfair competitive advantage
   

Front 2

What are some of the contracts most likely to involve an OCI?

Back 2

• Management support services
  
• Consultant or other professional services
  
• Contractor performance of or assistance in technical evaluations
  
• Systems engineering and technical direction work performed by a contractor that does not have overall contractual responsibility for development or production
  

Front 3

What three types are OCIs usually grouped into?

Back 3

1. Unequal access
2. Biased ground rules
3. Impaired objectivity

Front 4

What type of OCI does this scenario describe?

An A&AS employee has access to a shared drive that contains a Government cost estimate for an upcoming acquisition. This info could help his company win the contract.

Back 4

Unequal access - the contractor can access information not available to other contractors

Front 5

What type of OCI does this scenario describe?

An A&AS engineer helps develop a SOW and his company intends to bid on the contract that will fulfill that requirement.

Back 5

Biased ground rules – contractor had a hand in preparing requirements that will later be used in an acquisition

Front 6

What type of OCI does this scenario describe?

Parts are purchased via Contract X. As part of Contract Y, Company A is responsible for testing the parts from Contract X for adequacy. Company A hopes to win the re-compete for Contract X while still acting as the prime on Contract Y.

Back 6

Impaired objectivity – contractor performs duties that involve assessing or evaluating itself or a partner company

Front 7

What are the two underlying things that a PCO must prevent regarding OCIs?

Back 7

Preventing conflicting roles that might bias a contractor’s judgment and preventing unfair competitive advantage

Front 8

What are the areas of concern listed in FAR 9.505 and which of the OCI types do they fall into?

Back 8

1. Providing Systems Engineering and Technical Direction (biased ground rules)
   
2. Preparing Specs or SOWs (biased ground rules)
   
3. Providing Evaluation Services (impaired objectivity)
   
4. Obtaining Access to Proprietary Information (unequal access)
   

Front 9

What 4 things must the PCO do prior to contract award regarding OCIs?

Back 9

Avoid, neutralize, or mitigate significant potential conflicts prior to award

Front 10

If the PCO decides that an acquisition involves a significant OCI, before the solicitation, he/she must?

Back 10

Submit a written analysis to the COCO recommending a course of action, including a draft solicitation provision and proposed contract clause. The COCO will approve or reject the recommendation in writing.

Front 11

How could you "avoid" an OCI?

Back 11

Exclude the source from the competition or eliminate a segment of work from the contract

Front 12

How could you "neutralize" an OCI?

Back 12

Exclude contractor participation in source selection activities or bar access to sensitive data

Front 13

How could you "mitigate" an OCI?

Back 13

Reduce or alleviate the impacts of an unavoidable OCI by requiring a Mitigation Plan from the contractor

Front 14

What are some of the typical contents of a contractor's OCI Mitigation Plan?

Back 14

• Non-Disclosure agreements
  
• Controlled access to sensitive information
  
• Firewalls to protect data dissemination/control
  
• Establishment of an employee OCI awareness/compliance program
  
• Physical separation of contract employees from sensitive data
  
• Organizational separation
  
• Management separation
  
• Limitation on personnel transfers
  

Front 15

Briefly describe the AFLCMC OCI Standard Process.

Back 15

The PCO will receive an OCI Mitigation Plan from industry, seek legal review, and then an OCI Senior Review Panel will give input. PCO will consider recommendations and either ask for changes/re-submission or accept. If approved, the plan becomes part of the contract.

Front 16

If you cannot effectively mitigate an OCI, but still believe it is in the Government's interests to include the contractor in the acquisition, what can you do?

Back 16

The final option is an HCA waiver