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.
Reports
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.-
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 Costello College 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.
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.-
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.
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November 25, 2019This white paper details the effects of budget swings on readiness for Department of Defense operations as well as the impact on the contractors who engage on these efforts.
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November 25, 2019This white paper introduces a model of defense procurement competitions to examine the difference on pricing intellectual property between the government and government contractors, and how that difference can be reduced.
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November 25, 2019The Small Business Runway Extension Act brings to light the broader issues surrounding set-aside contracting policies. This white paper provides recommendations for other ways to achieve similar social policy objectives while mitigating the adverse effects of these unintended consequences.
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.
January 17, 2024Dr. Jerry McGinn, the director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, and Steve Grundman of the Atlantic Council and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University — who both lead the Pentagon’s industrial policy office — discuss the Biden administration’s first ever National Defense Industrial Strategy that was unveiled by last week with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.-
January 16, 2024Tom Temin Federal Drive Podcast with Jerry McGinn on the first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy.
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January 11, 2024Common Defense Network (ComDef) Interview with Dr. Jerry McGinn on Industrial base issues and international participation. DPA, NTIB and AUKUS also covered.
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January 3, 2024In an Op-Ed written by Jerry McGinn for Breaking Defense, McGinn argues that the Pentagon can move more quickly if it heeds lessons from a previous life-or-death acquisition story.
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October 27, 2023An Opinion by Jerry McGinn for The Hill.
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September 11, 2023In an Opinion written by Noah Rivers, Baroni Center Fellow, for C4ISRNET, new Cybersecurity Strategy authored by the Office of the National Cyber Director.
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September 4, 2023In a Reganism Podcast by Reagan Institute Policy Director Rachel Hoff, Jerry McGinn discuss the defense industrial base, working with allies on transnational industrial cooperation to alleviate global supply issues like those seen in Ukraine, and ongoing hurdles faced by America’s defense industry.
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July 18, 2023The need to strengthen supply chains is creating an opportunity for the revival of second sourcing, a method used until the 1990s to secure defense supply chains, write Olivia Letts and Jerry McGinn.
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July 13, 2023Tom Temin interviewed Jerry McGinn on ways to boost the surge capacity of the defense industrial base in the US.
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July 3, 2023From the Federal News Network Commentary written by Emily Murphy, Senior Fellow of the Baroni Center: Congress should act quickly to fix Section 876 so that multiple award contracts focus on meaningful competition, getting the best solution for the government at the best price and reducing administrative burdens on small contractors and contracting officers.
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June 27, 2023Combat in Ukraine and the results of Asia-Pacific theater wargames have exposed the existential need for greater capacity in our defense-industrial base. Increasing U.S. production is a critical part of the solution, but it is not the only part. As illustrated by ongoing U.S. and allied efforts to scour the world for 155mm ammunition to support Ukrainian forces, engaging the industrial capacity of American partners and allies is an essential, mutually beneficial and cost-effective way to increase industrial capacity and resilience. That’s why we need to adopt a “Build Allied” approach for current and future contingencies.
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May 2, 2023A Commentary by Richard Beutel, senior fellow at the Baroni Center, suggests policy makers should at least contemplate the potential loss of product innovation and diversity available to the federal government under this new [Biden Administration] cybersecurity proposal.
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
Dean’s Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Marketing, Ivy College of Business, Iowa State University
Ju-Yeon Lee is Dean’s Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Marketing at the Iowa State University. Her research focuses on customer centricity, business-to-government (B2G) and business-to-business (B2B) relationships, and digital/online channels.
Associate Professor, Supply Chain and Operations, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
Anant Mishra is an Associate Professor in the Supply Chain and Operations Department at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. His current research interests derive from contemporary issues in the areas of project management, open innovation, public-sector operations, and global supply chain management.
Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting and Information Systems, Rutgers Business School – New Brunswick
Brad Nathan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at Rutgers Business School – New Brunswick. He teaches undergraduate and Honors Introduction to Financial Accounting. Prior to his current appointment, he was a Visiting Professor at Columbia University in the City of New York.
Professor of Law , Antonin Scalia Law School; Founding Director, Innovation Law Clinic; Executive Director, Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP)
at George Mason UniversityProfessor O’Connor’s research and law practice focus on intellectual property and business law, especially the role of general counsel for start-ups and commercializing innovation in technology and arts.
Senior Lecturer, Cornell Engineering
Erika K. Palmer is a transdisciplinary social/sociotechnical systems engineer who brings diverse disciplines into the systems engineering community through her research and teaching.
Director, Rapid Prototyping Research Center
College of Engineering and ComputingProfessor Roeting’s body of work encompasses battlefield networking and communications interoperability with a specific focus on Special Operation Forces (SOF) and Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACS).
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Mississippi State University
Benjamin Tkach is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the Mississippi State University.