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 Takeaways

  • 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.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

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.
BibTeX RIS

Research conducted by

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.

This publication is part of the RAND research report series. Research reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND research reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.