NASA Contract Management

GAO reviewed the National Air and Space Administration's (NASA) contract management procedures, focusing on the areas that NASA has made progress in and the areas that it needs to improve. GAO noted that: (1) NASA routinely reviews major procurement activities' schedule milestones, the age and value of incomplete contract actions, bid protest disposition, progress in meeting its small disadvantages business contracting goals, and the number, value, and competitive status of procurement obligations; (2) NASA plans to improve the system used to monitor its response to GAO recommendations; (3) NASA procurement officials appropriately follow up on and recommend corrective actions for known and suspected contract management problems; (4) NASA self-assessment process can more effectively monitor the entire procurement process if its procurement centers had additional guidance and information; (5) NASA headquarters and its centers need to develop a system for collecting and using customer satisfaction metrics to measure customer service and improve the coordination between procurement and program offices; and (6) recent efforts to improve and streamline the procurement process may help NASA cope with staff reductions, but additional large reductions could adversely affect support capabilities and increase agency vulnerability to waste, fraud, and abuse.