Dispelling fear and loathing in government acquisition: A proposal for cultivational governance in dod source selections

Abstract

Government contracting is rife with miscommunication and misperception, sometimes unavoidably, and is often associated with secrecy, autarky, and opportunism. These qualities undermine trust, increase contracting costs, and reduce effective collaboration between business and government. In this article we show how mutual trust can be repaired and, once repaired, bumped up and made much more robust through cultivational governance. The proximate aim of the article is improving source-selection in government acquisition; its scholarly purpose lies in contributing to a process theory for recovering and reinforcing trust.