Determining the value of Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) narratives for the acquisition process

Abstract

In the last 20 years, the Department of Defense has seen a general reduction in the acquisition workforce yet experienced unprecedented growth in spending for services. The government has increased the level of scrutiny on service contracts highlighting the need to consistently follow policy when documenting contractor performance in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). This report used statistical analysis to examine 715 Army service contractor performance reports in CPARS in order to answer the following questions: (1) Are government contracting professionals submitting contractor performance narratives in accordance with CPARS guidelines? (2) What is the added value of the contractor performance narratives beyond the value of the objective scores for performance? (3) What is the statistical relationship between the narratives and the objective scores? (4) Do the interview findings contradict, support, or enhance the findings for the three questions above? (5) What conclusions or recommendations can we draw from the answers to the questions above? The findings revealed inconsistencies between the objective scores and narratives entered into CPARS. This report discusses the findings and concludes with eight recommendations to improve documenting contractor performance.