Outsourcing Base Operations Support Functions: The Laughlin Experience - Air Force

Program Manager, Jan, 2001 by Rene G. Rendon

The traditional government-contractor relationship at an operational base was more tactical in nature, with a short-term relationship focus. In this traditional environment, the government and contractor typically operated in a less-than-cooperative nature, believing that the only way to manage a contract was at the other's expense. However, with the contractor now performing long-term, mission-critical functions and the government more dependent on contractors for mission accomplishment, both parties are now motivated to work in a more collaborative mode. The partnering relationship constitutes a mutual commitment by the parties on how they will interact during the period of performance, with the primary goal of facilitating improved contract performance through enhanced communications.

The partnering relationship requires a mutual commitment to work together to the benefit of both parties, sharing relevant information and the risks and rewards of the relationship. The partnering relationship also requires a clear understanding from both parties of expectations, open communications and information exchange, mutual trust, and a common direction of the future.

Most partnering programs involve frequent meetings between the program manager, contracting officers, and contractor management personnel. These meetings are for discussing and resolving any technical or contractual issues pertaining to the contract. The objective is to identify analyze, and resolve performance issues before they become detrimental to the organization's mission. As the partnering relationship matures and both parties become comfortable with the arrangement, contract performance should improve, with problems and deficiencies becoming less common.

The contracting officer must be consistently and constantly vigilant with the management of the partnership to ensure that the relationship does not deteriorate. [6] The contracting officer must also continue to monitor the relationship through appraisal and feedback mechanisms to facilitate any changes or problems that may arise during the contract performance period.

AWARD FEES MOTIVATE CONTRACTORS

Once the contract is awarded, the PWS is pretty much baselined with the contract price, that is, any additional requirements added to the PWS will usually require an equitable adjustment to the contract price. The time required to negotiate a modification to the contract may result in the loss of flexibility for the Air Force to quickly react to any mission changes or required surges in level of effort. The use of award fee contracts is one way of incentivizing the contractor to provide superior performance in such areas as quality, timeliness, and responsiveness, which are over-and-above the standards of the contract. The amount of the award fee to be paid is based upon a subjective evaluation by the Air Force of the quality of the contractor's performance, judged in light of the criteria set forth in the contract. The award fee criteria should be flexible enough to motivate the contractor in a positive way to improve performance.