An identification and possible method of collection/reporting of under-reported small business utilization data for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command

摘要

Many acquisition organizations have difficulty meeting their mandated small business utilization goals. Much literature is rightly dedicated to methods of increasing this utilization. However, small businesses are actually making a greater contribution to an organizationαs mission than the current reporting system demonstrates. Mis-reported, under-reported and unreported small business utilization comprises a significant percentage of an acquisition organizationαs total procurement obligations for which the current reporting system grants no credit. The areas of first-tier subcontracting, second-tier subcontracting, Interagency acquisition, GSA FSS orders, indirect costs, Other Transactions, Micro-purchases and contracts under $500K were analyzed to quantify the amount of reporting variance at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. First and second-tier subcontracting were found to account for the majority of mis/unreported utilization, and are the only areas whose inclusion in SPAWARαs utilization statistics is clearly advantageous. Research demonstrates that an additional 9-16% of SPAWARαs procurement dollars end up in the hands of small businesses by granting SPAWAR credit for this small business utilization. To effect a change in the reporting system, improvements must be made in an automated system to collect and report subcontracting utilization data, the use of a new reporting metric and the issuance of clear policy guidance.