Accession Number:

ADA399140

Title:

Performance-Based Contracting in the Air Force. A Report on Experiences in the Field

Descriptive Note:

Documented briefing

Corporate Author:

RAND CORP SANTA MONICA CA

Personal Author(s):

• Ausink, John
• Camm, Frank
• Cannon, Charles

Report Date:

2001-01-01

Pagination or Media Count:

69.0

Abstract:

A performance-based contract tells the seller what the buyer wants done, not how to do it, and since 1991 it has been the policy of the federal government that agencies use performance-based contracting methods to the maximum extent practicable when acquiring services. Department of Defense interest in performance-based contracting has increased in recent years, and in April 2000 the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology directed that 50 percent of service acquisitions be performance based by the year 2005. A variety of Air Force instructions, publications, and policies are in place to aggressively implement this policy. The primary goal of this study is to use examples of successful Air Force applications of performance-based services acquisition PBSA to illustrate how to pursue these practices elsewhere. In this documented briefing, the results of interviews with personnel at Air Force bases that have used PBSA are arranged as a walk-through of the process of applying these techniques to the development of a contract. On the basis of these interview results, we reach several conclusions about what seems to work in the field and what needs to be improved, and we then summarize these conclusions in a list of lessons learned from experiences in PBSA implementation.

Descriptors:

• *CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION
• *AIR FORCE PROCUREMENT
• POLICIES
• MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND CONTROL
• ACQUISITION
• CONTRACTS

Subject Categories:

• Administration and Management

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE