Does Competitive Sourcing Really Pay?
Abstract
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) "Circular A-76, Performance of Commercial Activities," has been around for over 40 years. A-76 was commonly used to refer to the process of outsourcing non-inherently governmental jobs in the 1990s. The A-76 circular was substantially revised to simplify and standardize implementation guidance and was released in its current form on May 29, 2003. The 0MB now uses A-76 to help implement the competitive sourcing initiative on President Bush's Management Agenda. The stated policy objective in the revised circular is, "To ensure that the American people receive maximum value for their tax dollars, commercial activities should be subject to the forces of competition" (0MB, 2003, May 29). The purpose of this study is to determine if A-76 competitions have resulted in saving the taxpayers money. More specifically, has A-76 saved the Department of Defense (DoD) money over the long term? The thinking goes that by subjecting the non-inherently governmental jobs being performed by government employees to the "forces of competition," the American taxpayer should benefit in the form of better service at lower cost. As stated in the "Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)," "Commercial activities should be subjected to the forces of competition" (Part 7.302). In this study, the author will be primarily concerned with the lower cost expectation and some of the broader policy implications of this strategy. So the question is as follows: Have A-76 competitions saved the DoD money? The paper includes 9 briefing charts that summarize the presentation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 30, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA494441
Entities
People
- Allen Friar
Organizations
- Defense Acquisition University