Understanding Industry and Business Acumen
As most regular readers of this blog are no doubt aware, ACQ 315 Understanding Industry (Business Acumen) classroom course is one of the “choose one of four” training course options as part of the life cycle logistics DAWIA Level III certification requirements.
According to the DAU iCatalog, this “course covers a wide range of business acumen competencies including industry orientation, organization, cost and financial planning, business strategy/development, supplier management, incentives, and negotiating strategies. Business skills will be learned on aligning company strategies, finances, and operations that motivate company decisions to meet their business goals, gain fair and reasonable profits, while providing best taxpayer value to the government on defense products.” Target attendees are” DAWIA Level III certified acquisition personnel across all DAWIA career fields. Students will come from a wide range of functional backgrounds. “
The course was designed to facilitate government employees’ understanding of our industry providers – something that each of us can benefit from. Hence, I would highly recommend you seek to take this course – even if you already have received your level III certification, as well as if you plan to take one of the other courses to meet your Level III certification requirement.
One final thought - in addition to ACQ 315 Understanding Industry (Business Acumen), the other three Level III "Choose One of Four" interdisciplinary Level III classroom course choices (LOG 211 Supportability Analysis, BCF 215 Operating and Support Cost Analysis, and ACQ 265 Mission-Focused Services Acquisition) are just as vital. I personally believe all four of the courses from this “pick list” are equally important, and therefore highly encourage all life cycle logisticians and DoD product support managers to look beyond the minimum requirement and consider taking all four of these courses as part of your professional and individual development planning. We would all be well served to essentially view the “choose one of four” DAWIA certification requirement as a minimum "threshold" with completion of each of these four courses as a more appropriate longer-term personal objective.