Determining the Value of Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) Narratives for the Acquisition Process

Abstract

The Department of Defense (DoD) has seen unprecedented growth in spending for service contracts since 1990 (Ellman, Livergood, Morrow, & Sanders, 2011) during the same period in which there has been a general reduction in the DoD acquisition workforce. The department is attempting to do more with less, year after year. The level of scrutiny focused upon DoD service contracts by the upper echelons of the DoD, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Congress has increased as the spending on service contracts continues to increase relative to both inflation and the percentage of the entire DoD contracting budget (Hart, Stover, & Wilhite, 2013).