Enhancing Cost Realism Through Risk-Driven Contracting

A risk-driven contract structure is proposed to enhance the cost realism of competitive proposals for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the acquisition lifecycle. An economic theory framework is employed to discuss how the cost-plus contracts typically used during this phase have inadvertently motivated contractors to provide optimistic cost estimates in an attempt to win competitive source selections. By directly mapping probabilistic cost estimates to profit distributions, risk-driven contracts offer a structured method to impose more cost risk sharing on contractors during EMD. Holding contractors accountable for their cost estimates and cost performance should enhance the realism of their cost proposals and ultimately reduce the cost growth that continues to plague the defense acquisition system.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.