REQUEST: In support of a PSC research paper that David Berteau will present at the Naval Post Graduate School’s 21st Annual Acquisition Research Symposium in May 2024, we are seeking your company’s timely feedback on survey questions (below). We would appreciate your response by Monday, March 11, 2024.

Note: We estimate that this survey will take [10-15] minutes to complete. PSC staff will ensure that all responses are aggregated and anonymized; no identifying information will be used (for either an individual or a company).

BACKGROUND: PSC’s paper will explore the intersection of cost realism, competition, and solicited versus executed requirements, as outlined in the below abstract. Although this paper will be presented to Department of Defense senior officials, PSC recognizes this issue is not isolated to the DoD. We anticipate the opportunity to identify how broadly this issue persists across the Federal Government space, and how damaging these scenarios can be to the depth and breadth of the government contracting industrial base. Thank you in advance for your time and support, and as always, please reach out with any questions.

RESEARCH ABSTRACT (as submitted to NPS): When done well, accurate cost realism analyses are highly effective at identifying material and substantive discrepancies between competitive offerors, as well as “buying in” or collusive behaviors; these analyses can also support a full and accurate responsibility determination prior to award. However, a worrying trend has emerged in the award of professional support services requirements, reflecting a disconnect between the workforce requirements (“skill mix”) solicited and the workforce requirements executed after award. This disconnect effectively eliminates the value of cost or pricing analyses conducted prior to award. Specifically, marked inconsistencies between the solicited and evaluated skill mix during source selection and the actual programmatic requirement delivered to support the mission are creating a de facto “Lowest Price Technically Acceptable” acquisition environment. This trend has the potential to drive unreasonable competitive behaviors, increase financial responsibility risk, limit a company’s ability to innovate and invest in future capabilities, and drive competitors from the market. These factors and the quality of cost realism analyses must be examined more closely to clarify the disconnects and impacts between program officers, contracting officers, and companies, yielding a more stable relationship between industry and government.
From your experience in supporting Federal Government customers, please provide your insight/ experiences in the following areas:

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* 1. How closely aligned are the solicited direct labor requirements (skill mix) to the delivered requirements? Please select a percentage range that most closely aligns with your general experiences.

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* 2. In cost-type contracts, how often is full fee invoiced / earned in advance of the full period of performance (POP) (e.g., billing “burns hot,” resulting in working “at cost” for the remaining POP.)

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* 3. In instances where full fee is invoiced / earned in advance of the full period of performance (POP), on average, how many months are the contracts billed at “cost” only?

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* 4. How often are requirements re-competed earlier than planned? (Example: 5-year POP awarded, contract estimated cost or labor hour ceiling exceeded in year 2 or 3, new solicitation effort begins in year 3, incumbent working at either cost-only through POP, or negotiates a bridge).

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* 5. In instances where contracts are recompeted early, on average, how much of the POP is lost?

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* 6. How often do you bid a “management challenge” against the most recent performed rates (“price to win” vs. “price to execute”) Example: Your firm currently executes similar work at $125/hour (fully burdened “price to execute”), but you bid below $125 as a competitive strategy (“price to win”).

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* 7. With respect to the above question, please advise a general range of “management challenge,” applied to performed rates for competitive purposes?

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* 8. In your experience, please advise how often competitive solicitations in which you participate are protested.

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* 9. Of the protests noted above, please advise if they are predominately Agency or GAO bid protests.

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* 10. Of the protests noted above, please advise your experience with how the preponderance of filed bid protests are settled.

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* 11. Please identify your primary customer base:

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* 12. If DoD is not currently your primary customer, was it previously?

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* 13. If you answered “Yes” to Question 12, please select your predominate reason(s) for the shift in customer base. Select all that apply.

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* 14. Please feel free to share any other thoughts you would like us to consider as we prepare our research analysis.

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* 15. If you would like to share a specific case study or example relevant to the research analysis and abstract noted above, please provide your name / contact information below. We will reach out to you directly to discuss.

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