Defense Downsizing: Selected Contractor Business Unit Reactions.
Abstract
In accordance with a September 26, 1994, request from the former Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, the General Accounting Office examined the impact of the recent decline in defense expenditures on individual business units of major defense contractors. We compared defense expenditures over a number of years and changes in the business units (1) sales and employment levels and (2) their spending on independent research and development and bid and proposal (IR&D/B&P) preparation, capital improvements, and facilities. To provide comparability and perspective, all of the sales and spending levels in this report are expressed in fiscal year 1995 dollars and measured from various base years. We selected business units from 6 of the top 10 defense contractors in 1993-General Dynamics, General Motors, Lockheed, Martin Marietta, McDonnell Douglas, and United Technologies. The units selected were primarily engaged in defense work and comprised an important part of their corporations' total government sales. To protect proprietary data, we have not disclosed the identities of the business units and have frequently interchanged the business unit labels (A-F) used throughout this report. While the changes at these business units are not projectable to the entire defense industry, they provide some insight into the impact of defense downsizing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA298027
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office