How Selected DOD Consolidation Efforts Affected Small Business Opportunities

Gao ID: NSIAD-83-30 August 12, 1983

GAO was asked to review recent Department of Defense (DOD) procurement practices that may be running contrary to longstanding procurement principles.

GAO believes that consolidated procurements have the potential for limiting prime contract awards to small business firms and may not always result in the lowest cost to the Government. GAO concerns are that: (1) decisions to consolidate procurements are made without performing adequate economic analyses; (2) when major commands decide on consolidation or a regional approach during the procurement planning stage, a local procurement activity's small disadvantaged business utilization specialist will find it difficult to carry out his function of identifying requirements for a small business to perform; and (3) procurement activities may be placing an overreliance on subcontracting opportunities for small businesses to compensate for loss of opportunity on prime awards. GAO also believes that an any-or-all procurement approach, which would allow firms to submit proposals to perform the total requirement or individual components of the total requirement, offers more opportunity for small business participation and yet still allows the contracting officer to obtain the lowest cost to the Government.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Robert M. Gilroy Team: General Accounting Office: National Security and International Affairs Division Phone: (202) 275-4268


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