Analysis of Cost Variance within Defense Acquisition Programs

Abstract

The Government Accountability Office has published multiple reports stating that defense acquisition programs (DAPs) often exceed original cost estimates, take longer than planned, and produce fewer units with less capabilities than promised. Changes in cost, schedule, and performance within DAPs are captured and submitted to Congress in Selected Acquisition Reports. The data and information contained in these reports has been made available through multiple information systems at the secretary of defense and military department levels. The Department of Defense is currently exploring new approaches to utilizing existing data and systems to improve the effectiveness of the data being reported to Congress and provide better oversight to DAP management. The purpose of this study is to understand, using a text analysis approach, how different factors affect cost variance for DAPs. This research aims to provide the following: (a) a review of policies and reports affecting data collection on DAPs; (b) a data analysis process wherein we imported, cleaned, transformed, modeled, and communicated specific data; and (c) recommendations that may be used to improve data collection and reporting among MDAPs.