Companies show mix of competitive, noncompetitive contracts

As the federal officials are pushing for more full-and-open competition, individual contractors have a mixed record on competition, according to government data.For example, 82 percent of Boeing’s contracts were noncompetitive in fiscal 2007. The figures about noncompetitive awards continue the same trend for other major government contractors, according to USASpending.gov.On the other hand, it’s not always so.n 75 percent of the contracts won by Lockheed Martin in fiscal 2007 were awarded through full-and-open competition. Similarly: Those differences tend to be somewhat arbitrary, reflecting contractors’ specialization in certain contract types and subjects that fall into the competitive exceptions, such as some governmentwide acquisition contracts and indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, said Charles Tiefer, professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law.