Volpe Center Highlights - November/December 2003
Organizational Excellence
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Published and Presented
Performance-Based Government -- A Different Way of Doing Business
The Volpe Center has traditionally performed much of its work by creating and managing teams that best meet project needs. Teams are composed of federal staff augmented with external and on-site contractors. Federal staff always retains responsibility for and guides the work.
"Performance-based contracting means structuring all aspects of an acquisition around the purpose of the work to be performed with the contract requirements set forth in clear, specific, and objective terms with measurable outcomes as opposed to either the manner by which the work is to be performed or broad and imprecise statements of work."
Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97-25, 66 Fed. Reg. 22082 (May 2, 2001). |
In response to several ongoing assessments, as well the President's emphasis on performance-based government, the Volpe Center is focusing on improving its business practices by moving the contractual purchasing method of the Center from a cost-plus-fixed fee to a performance-based contracting vehicle. Performance-based contracting is based on results rather than level of effort, and is part of a larger initiative to shift the government's role from one of managing a contract's processes to measuring performance outcomes. This kind of contracting is being used more frequently by all federal government agencies, and reflects a momentum to make contractors more accountable for their work. An integral part of this process is choosing appropriate performance measurements. This is usually done in collaboration with the contractor.
"What matters most is completion. Performance. Results. Not just making promises, but making good on promises."
President George W. Bush
The President's Management Agenda, 2002 |
The Volpe Center has demonstrated its commitment to performance-based contracts with a dramatic increase in these awards from FY2003 to FY2004. The FY2003 total performance-based obligations for 2003 were $9.4 million. By the end of the first quarter of FY2004, the performance-based contract awards had already exceeded the total for FY2003 and were at $29.2 million, or 68 percent of eligible service. The Volpe Center's FY04 goal is to have performance-based contract awards at 50 percent -- and the FY05 goal is to increase this to 80 percent. This sets a higher standard than the federal government has set for itself. To help ensure that contracting-related processes run smoothly, the Center has already initiated Center-wide training.
The Volpe Center is pleased to be part of this evolutionary change that establishes a new government-wide paradigm and will result in a more efficient way of doing business.
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