Research
Center staff and affiliated faculty produce significant research ranging from commentary pieces in influential outlets, to white papers and essays on pressing government contracting issues, to peer-reviewed articles in premier journals.
Center competencies and capabilities are making an impact in the government contracting industry:
- Unique and influential analysis, commentaries, reports, and webinars on the federal response to COVID.
- White Paper Series that shares cutting edge research on small business transition, intellectual property, DoD budget reform, acquisition reform, and industrial base resilience.
- Impactful op eds in The Hill, Business Insider, Defense One, Defense News, the National Interest, with additional coverage by national print and broadcast outlets.
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Reports
January 26, 2023Report to the Laboratories and Personnel Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, U.S. Department of Defense in response to the FY2020 NDAA requirement for "the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to enter into an arrangement with a university business school or law school with resident economics and intellectual property expertise to conduct an independent assessment of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s and defense laboratories’ contracting and intellectual property management policies and their effects on the commercialization of and innovation in dual-use technology."
October 26, 2022While the platform-based defense budgeting system works well for large capital investments, many other capital investments such as the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept require modular, cross-cutting technologies that do not fit well into program stovepipes. Even when all stakeholders are aligned, there are precious few opportunities to get funding within the traditional resource allocation process. This creates a proverbial “valley of death” that frustrates everyone involved. What types of strategies can inject the execution flexibility necessary to bridge this valley of death and get capabilities in the hands of warfighters?
August 2, 2022This report outlines the results of a workshop discussion on Trusted Workforce 2.0 (TW 2.0) implementation and academic initiatives to educate and train today and tomorrow’s cleared government contracting workforce.
July 20, 2022The Center for Government Contracting releases a new report, “The Power of Many: Leveraging Consortia to Promote Innovation, Expand the Defense Industrial Base, and Accelerate Acquisition.”
February 9, 2022To ensure overmatch against strategic adversaries like Russia and China, the defense acquisition system does not need a new set of reforms but rather a change in mindset. The Center for Government Contracting calls this change in mindset and approach "Acquisition Next." It seeks to replace industrial age paradigm of linearity and prediction with the modern approaches of modularity, speed, iteration, and competition. This playbook suggests a way to implement the Acquisition Next mindset.-
November 6, 2020Executive Director Jerry McGinn & Research Fellow Eric Lofgren compiled and analyzed data from the federal response to COVID-19.
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June 15, 2020Update and trends from the Center for Government Contracting on the COVID-19 response
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April 22, 2020Focuses on the performance of FAR and non-FAR authorities in the response to date.
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April 8, 2020Provides updates and trends in the federal response to COVID.
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White Paper Series
The Baroni Center for Government Contracting White Paper Series is a central focus of our work. The purpose of the series is to inject ideas into the government contracting ecosystem and identify potential solutions for vexing challenges facing the community.
In releasing these White Papers, the Center gratefully acknowledges the work of its senior fellows who wrote them. Through research, writing, and discussion, Center senior fellows champion matters of interest to the government contracting community. These fellows add a rich practitioner component for the School of Business to better understand and support the GovCon industry.
We welcome your feedback and ideas for future topics in this series. Contact Charles Dolgas at cdolgas@gmu.edu.
December 15, 2022This paper looks at how Presidents have used their authority under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (FPASA) to issue Executive Orders shaping the Federal acquisition system.-
December 5, 2022Examines the impact of M&A strategy on company value in the government contracting community. Our empirical findings show that investors react positively to customer expansion but not as favorable to customer penetration, as financial markets appear to prioritize access to new revenue sources over improving efficiencies.
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November 1, 2022This paper dives deeper into the history of how the legislative and executive branches managed defense budget portfolios in the 1960s and before, as well as how PPBE upended those traditional processes. The paper concludes that execution flexibility in the form of portfolio budgeting is not only consistent with economic efficiency, it is consistent with United States traditions of congressional control.
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October 7, 2022New market commercial space launch entrants are pursuing goals of affordable and repeatable access to space independent of the space agency. With this context, the paper asks if NASA has been a leader or a follower of the emergence of the modern space age.The paper asks if NASA has been a leader or a follower of the emergence of the modern space age.
June 29, 2022June 29, 2022 — The Center for Government Contracting releases its latest White Paper: "Don't Get Ahead of the Data:" Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Maintenance in DoD.-
April 29, 2022The Department of Defense (DoD) faces unique data licensing challenges when acquiring artificial intelligence (AI) solutions from the private sector. This paper provides an alternative framework to the traditional data licensing strategies to better address the unique challenges of acquiring AI solutions.
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August 16, 2021This white paper explores U.S. Government and Department of Defense efforts to achieve defense exportability over the years, highlights current problems that deserve urgent attention, and suggests alternatives to improve performance.
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June 5, 2021This white paper outlines specific measures that the Department of Defense and Congress can undertake to help build U.S. industrial resilience through close cooperation with allies and partners.
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January 14, 2021What breadth and permanence will federal agencies will allow when it comes to remote work, at least in their on-site contractors, and on contracts where work locations are geographically restricted? The degree to which remote work will continue depends on legitimization, shaping, and timing.
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September 28, 2020This paper provides an expansive review of the U.S. defense industrial base from World War I to today, the vital importance of a robust and secure industrial base, and how that base is being used to face the COVID pandemic.
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July 29, 2020In this paper, author Eric Lofgren, who researches business, policy, regulatory, and other issues in government contracting, charts a course for the future of budgeting informed by the history of government's financial management.
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July 14, 2020This paper examines the value of intellectual property in government procurement auctions using a focused comparison of two recent programs by Oshkosh Corporation for military medium-weight trucks.
Commentaries
Center commentaries provide timely insights into pressing government contracting issues in government and business. Whether the commentary topic is “in the news” or deserves “future attention,” readers are provided short, to the point on the topic, why the topic is important, and what to consider for its resolution.
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October 25, 2022Emily Murphy, former administrator of the General Services Administration and current senior fellow at the George Mason University Business School’s Center for Government Contracting, has published her latest article as a part of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Expert program.
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September 27, 2022Prioritization, not capacity, is the real issue facing allies as they continue to supply Ukraine but also to ensure NATO members have enough defense items, writes Center for Government Contracting Executive Director Jerry McGinn in a commentary for DefenseNews
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September 19, 2022The U.S. government’s research and development efforts should promote small experiments because if they fail, we learn something; and when they succeed, we can build on that success. Likewise, Congress needs to act now to keep one of the smallest and most successful R&D programs from disappearing Sept. 30 to ensure continued progress and access to critical industries and technologies.
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August 5, 2022"The importance of the supply chain for strategic and critical materials is not as well appreciated," writes Stephanie Halcrow, Senior Fellow at the Center for Government Contracting, in an op-ed for RealClear Defense.
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June 15, 2022Defense News Commentary by Bill Greenwalt, Jerry McGinn, and Christopher Zember see the Defense Production Act "as a strategic asset for shared American values and national interests."
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May 19, 2022Defense News Commentary authors Daniel Fata and Jerry McGinn detail how "maintaining robust foreign suppliers through a 'Buy Allied' approach is essential for the American economy to remain strong and will help reduce dependencies on Chinese sources."
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April 18, 2022As Emily Murphy writes in her Federal News Network Commentary, "Over the past 40 years, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has contributed substantial innovations in the defense, civilian and private sectors."
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March 23, 2022Emily Murphy, former administrator of the General Services Administration, senior fellow at the George Mason University School of Business and the Center for Government Contracting, and a partner in CEO Coaching International, has published her first article as a part of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Expert program.
- March 14, 2022There are already signs that OTA growth may soon reach a crescendo.
- March 2, 2022Center Executive Director Jerry McGinn wrote a commentary for Defense News, "You don’t need to rewrite acquisition regulations to improve DoD buying."
- February 3, 2022Center Executive Director Jerry McGinn teamed up with Center Senior Fellow Eric Lofgren to write the a commentary for Defense News, "Three Steps to Help Defense Innovation Break Free From Its Shackles."
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January 20, 2022From a Defense News Commentary: It seems like every year there is another commission, task force or board that studies the defense acquisition system. Fiscal 2022 continues the pattern with the rather bureaucratic-sounding Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution reform. This time, however, there is good reason to sit up and take notice.
Affiliated Faculty
The Center for Government Contracting offers access to both the GovCon network and funds for research and writing, to enrich the understanding of the unique business interests on both sides of this market—government and business.
Affiliated Faculty appointments will
- Encourage academic research in GovCon;
- Advance the research reputation of the faculty and the Center;
- Offer grants and honoraria to support the effort faculty can bring to this discussion; and
- Offer a new avenue to engage faculty who share our interest to create a more efficient and effective market for the public good.
Current Appointments
Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Global Engagement
Additional Roles: Associate Professor, Accounting; Kearney & Company Faculty FellowJK Aier is the senior associate dean for academic affairs and global engagement and an associate professor within the accounting area in the School of Business at George Mason University.
Associate Professor, Information Systems and Operations Management
Mehmet Altug is an associate professor within the Information Systems and Operations Management Area in the School of Business at George Mason University.
Assistant Area Chair, Information Systems and Operations Management
Additional Roles: Professor, Information Systems and Operations ManagementSidhartha Das is an assistant area chair and a professor within the Information Systems and Operations Management Area in the School of Business at George Mason University.
Deputy Assistant to the Director for Strategic Initiatives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory and Chairman and Co-Founder of the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation
Mr. Durnan is a director of Siga Technologies, LLC, and he has served as a director or trustee for MacAndrews & Forbes Worldwide Corp., Swift Prepaid Solutions, kSARIA Corp., Orthozon Technologies, Defensewerx, Antioch New England University, and Unity College.
Associate Professor, Management
Additional Roles: Masters of Science in Management Program DirectorVictoria Grady is the Masters of Science in Management program director and an associate professor within the Management Area in the School of Business at George Mason University.
Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management, North Carolina State University
Dr. Robert Handfield is considered a thought leader in the field of supply chain management, and is an industry expert in the field of strategic sourcing, supply market intelligence, and supplier development.
Executive in Residence, Business for a Better World Center
Additional Roles: Professor of Practice, ManagementM. Rashed Hasan is the executive in residence for the Business for a Better World Center and a professor of practice in the Management Area within the School of Business at George Mason University.
Assistant Professor of Finance, Ball State University
Reza Houston is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Ball State University. He has published articles in the Journal of Corporate Finance, Financial Review, Managerial Finance, and other journals. His research interests include political economy, mergers, and federal government contracting.
Founder & Executive Director, National Security Institute and Assistant Professor of Law & Director, National Security Law & Policy Program at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University
Jamil Jaffer currently serves as Founder and Executive Director of the National Security Institute and as an Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the National Security Law & Policy Program at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he teaches classes on counterterrorism, intelligence, surveillance, cybersecurity, and other national security matters.
Associate Dean for Executive Development
Additional Roles: Associate Professor, MarketingBrett Josephson is the associate dean for Executive Development and an associate professor within the marketing area in the School of Business at George Mason University.