Small Business Participation in Air Force Procurement: Participation Trends and the Effect of Acquisition Reform Initiatives on Air Force Procurement via Selected Contract Types in Selected Product Categories

Small Businesses (SB) have been of recognized important to the Federal Government for many years. This thesis explores the role of SB contractors in Air Force (AF) procurement and the effects of recent acquisition reform (AR) initiatives on their involvement, including their method of involvement (contract type), product areas in which they participate, and possible new areas of measurement. This thesis answers the research and investigative questions in three ways. First, it explores the correlation of AR initiatives to SB participation as a whole, via selected contract types, and in selected product categories via causal regression models. Next, it identifies trends in AF procurement via selected contract types in selected product categories via descriptive numerical comparison. Finally, it identifies possible product areas for improved SB recruitment. The results of this thesis are as varied as the methodologies employed to answer the research and investigative questions. First, very little correlation was found between acquisition reform initiatives and SB participation. Next, SB participation trends via the selected contract types in the selected product areas varied much greater than overall SB participation. Finally, several product categories were identified as suffering from a decreasing level of SB participation.Air Force Inst of Tech Wright-Patterson AFB OH School of Engineering and Management is the author of 'Small Business Participation in Air Force Procurement: Participation Trends and the Effect of Acquisition Reform Initiatives on Air Force Procurement via Selected Contract Types in Selected Product Categories' with ISBN 9781423518648 and ISBN 1423518640.