FCW Insider: A Consumer Reports for contracting officials?
Some government contractors might address problems more quickly if negative performance reports were available to the public, a reader says.
In a recent blog post, we noted that one reader believes the Obama administration’s transparency policy should include government contractor performance data. Taxpayers, after all, are footing the bill for those contracts. That post spurred a second motion from Joe, in Washington, D.C.
Joe believes contractor performance reports would help procurement officials make better-informed decisions when buying products and services -- something akin to Consumer Reports. Here is what he had to say:
If tax payer money is involved, then by all means contractor performance should be available to the public. This would help lead to better performance, government ROI and visibility. When consumer companies make a mistake or perform badly, it is immediately posted throughout the blogosphere. Companies tend to take immediate action as a result. There same mechanism should be used for government contracting, thus leveraging the power of public awareness to improve performance. Otherwise, a contractor might face the consequences of public outrage since they are receiving their hard-earned tax money. Public outrage is more effective than Earned Value Management, Performance-based contracting and any other bureaucratic measuring stick.