The Air Force is trying to increase small-business use and identify industries that have the most potential for increasing small-business utilization. This report examines the Air Force Small-Business Performance Expectations Methodology, with recommendations for improving the methodology accuracy to identify small-business opportunities.

Improving the Air Force Small-Business Performance Expectations Methodology

Nancy Young Moore, Amy G. Cox, Clifford A. Grammich, Judith D. Mele

ResearchPublished Jun 2, 2017

The Air Force is trying to increase small-business use and identify industries that have the most potential for increasing small-business utilization. This report examines the Air Force Small-Business Performance Expectations Methodology with the goal of improving it to identify small-business opportunities. The report recommends that efforts to increase small-business spending should take into account differences between the Air Force's and other services' buying requirements as well as the importance of budget categories, using industry/Product or Service code/budget-category combinations to identify small businesses. Changing certain market definitions to identify areas with more or less small-business saturation would improve the methodology. Additionally, industry small-business size standards should be considered. A larger amount of data, including the last two to three years of data, would help monitor and refine accuracy.

Key Findings

  • Air Force purchases differ from those of other services; purchases should be compared to the Navy and perhaps the Army, not the Department of Defense as a whole.
  • Considering budget categories, as well as industry and Product or Service codes, helps identify possible small-business contracts.
  • Extant data is useful but limited. A larger amount of data (two to three financial years) would refine accuracy.
  • Changing certain market definitions to identify areas with more or less small-business saturation would improve the methodology.

Recommendations

  • Efforts to increase small-business spending should take into account differences between the Air Force and other services.
  • The methodology should use industry/Product or Service codes/budget-category combinations and consider industry size standards to help identify small businesses.
  • More data should be used to increase methodology accuracy.
  • Defining markets as "More Accessible" and "Less Accessible," as well as defining "Consolidated Markets," would improve accuracy.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 2017
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 66
  • Paperback Price: $20.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 978-0-8330-9512-1
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RR1545
  • Document Number: RR-1545-AF

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Moore, Nancy Young, Amy G. Cox, Clifford A. Grammich, and Judith D. Mele, Improving the Air Force Small-Business Performance Expectations Methodology, RAND Corporation, RR-1545-AF, 2017. As of September 11, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1545.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Moore, Nancy Young, Amy G. Cox, Clifford A. Grammich, and Judith D. Mele, Improving the Air Force Small-Business Performance Expectations Methodology. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2017. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1545.html. Also available in print form.
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The research described in this report was prepared for the Air Force Office of Small Business Programs and conducted by the Resource Management Program within RAND Project AIR FORCE.

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