Performance Based Contracting

Performance Based Contracting (PBC), also known as performance-based logistics (PBL) or performance-based acquisition, is a product support strategy used to achieve measurable performance outcomes, for example in the defense industry. A PBC approach focuses on developing strategic performance metrics and directly relating contracting payment to performance against these metrics. Common metrics include availability, reliability, maintainability, supportability and total cost of ownership. The primary means of accomplishing this are through incentivized, long-term contracts with specific and measurable levels of operational performance defined by the customer and agreed on by contracting parties. This stands in contrast to the traditional waterfall approach, where payment is related to completion of milestones and project deliverables.

Overview

PBC is about buying Performance, not transactional goods and services, through an integrated acquisition and logistics process delivering improved capability to a range of products and services. PBC is a support strategy that places primary emphasis on optimising system support to meet the needs of the user. PBCs delineate outcome performance goals, ensure that responsibilities are assigned, provide incentives for attaining these goals, and facilitate the overall life-cycle management of system reliability, supportability, and total ownership costs. A PBC in practice involves a contracting agency (who are contracting the work to an external provider) and a contractor (who are responsible for completing the work set out in the contract). Several other parties are often involved, including subcontractors, a legal team and consultants. These parties work for both contracting agency and contractor completing various elements of work associated with contract development, contracted work completion or performance management / measurement.

United States federal law defines performance-based acquisition [1] and treats it as "the preferred method for acquiring services".[2]

Implementation

A typical process for implementing a PBC is as follows:

  1. Business Case - a document which reviews potential risks, benefits and other potential impacts of a PBC, usually presented to senior managers to aid in their decision making
  2. Outcomes - a short statement reflecting the desired result or final deliverable of the contract
  3. Measures - define a set of performance measures that collectively measure the organisations performance against the outcome statement
  4. Levels - set performance levels for the performance measures, i.e. how well the contractor needs to perform
  5. Payment - develop a set of payment curves which set out the pay for performance regime i.e. how much the contractor gets paid for their performance level
  6. Incentives - set out a group of incentives that encourage positive behaviours and discourage negative behaviours
  7. Contract - draft, review, workshop and finalise a contract which covers all aspects of the performance, payment and terms and conditions of the relationship
  8. Review - conduct an analysis of the outcomes of the PBC, taking into account the differing definitions of success from the different groups involved in the contract.

Naming

PBC is the name used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada to describe the practice of attaching contract payment to a set of performance metrics. It is commonly known as Performance-based logistics in the USA and Contracting for Availability or Contractor Logistics Support in the UK. Although it was developed in the USA for Defence application, and is most actively applied there, PBC strategies are growing in popularity around the world and in industry sectors other than defence. In particular, PBC frameworks are becoming popular in Shipping, Transport, Health Services and the energy sector.

Alternative terms include:

Applications

Defence

PBC is widely applied in the Australian Defence Sector, primarily by the major acquisition and support organisation, the Defence Material Organisation (DMO). It is particularly useful in the Defence environment because of the inherent complexity and large scale of the projects. Recently, Australian Defence has initiated an escalation of the use of PBCs with the strategic aims of improving capability outcomes and reducing total cost of ownership. In Australia and the USA, PBC frameworks are most commonly applied in Defence situations.

PBC frameworks are currently being used in numerous Defence related projects, including:

Industry

Although it is applied primarily in the Defence environment, PBC is becoming more popular in a broader range of private and public sector organisations as they seek to reduce costs and create a closer link between expenditure and project outcomes.

Areas outside Defence where PBC is applied include:

Some examples:

Studies

There is some debate about the efficacy of PBC as a product support measure. However, there is significant research to suggest that PBC can reduce costs and result in better outcomes than traditional contracting approaches. An American study into the effectiveness of PBC frameworks in Defence projects was recently conducted. The study found that projects employing a true PBC framework resulted in substantially lower costs and improved system readiness / capability when compared to non-PBC arrangements. In addition to this, a study by Booz Allen Hamilton found that even incorporating a small amount of a PBC framework into weapons system support will create positive outcomes.

In a more general sense, implementing a PBC framework has a broad range of benefits for organisations, contractors and contracting agencies, including:

References

  1. ↑ Federal Acquisition Regulation, Subpart 37.7: Performance-Based Acquisition, accessed 13 October 2016
  2. ↑ Federal Acquisition Regulation, Subpart 37.102: Service contracts: general - policy, accessed 13 October 2016
  3. ↑ Wharton, Power by the Hour: Can Paying Only for Performance Redefine How Products Are Sold and Serviced?, 21 February 2007 accessed 13 October 2016

Further reading

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