Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND
intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication
online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it
is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of
its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit
/pubs/permissions.
The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make
communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit,
nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.
RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
Support RAND
Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at
/giving/contribute
For more information on this publication, visit /t/RR2356
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication.
ISBN: 978-1-9774-0005-5
Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif.
Copyright 2018 RAND Corporation
R is a registered trademark.
iii
Preface
Tis report documents the RAND Corporation’s assessment of the prevalence and impact of
bid protests on U.S. Department of Defense acquisitions. It is the product of a study on this
issue that Congress called for in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017.1
Te fndings are intended to inform Congress and U.S. defense leaders about the efectiveness
of current procurement policies and processes to reduce bid protests. It assumes that the reader
has some basic knowledge of the federal bid protest system and venues for fling protests.
RAND assembled and analyzed available data on bid protests and sought to address the
study elements specifed in Section 885 of the legislation. Te analysis built on prior RAND
research that assessed trends in U.S. Air Force bid protests, analyzed two high-profle bid
protests (the Combat Search and Rescue Helicopter and Aerial Refueling Tanker Aircraft
[KC-46] programs) for lessons learned, and recommended changes to Air Force acquisition
tactics to counter bid protests in the future.2 In addition, for the current study, the RAND
research team reviewed and summarized studies and analyses conducted by the U.S. Govern-
ment Accountability Ofce, the Congressional Research Service, and other organizations on
the prevalence and impact of bid protests.
Tis report was delivered to Congress on December 21, 2017. It has since been profession-
ally typeset and proofread.
Tis research was sponsored by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technol-
ogy, and Logistics, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, and conducted within the
Acquisition and Technology Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute,
a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Ofce of the Secretary of
Defense, the Joint Staf, the Unifed Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the
defense agencies, and the Intelligence Community.
For more information on the Acquisition and Technology Policy Center, see
rand/nsrd/ndri/centers/atp or contact the director (contact information is provided on the
webpage).
1 Public Law 114-328, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, December 23, 2016. Section 885 of
the legislation requires a “comprehensive study on the prevalence and impact of bid protests on Department of Defense
acquisitions.”
2 See Frank Camm, Mary E. Chenoweth, John C. Graser, Tomas Light, Mark A. Lorell, and Susan K. Woodward,
Government Accountability Ofce Bid Protests in Air Force Source Selections: Evidence and Options—Executive Summary
,
Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, MG-1077-AF, 2012, and Tomas Light, Frank Camm, Mary E. Chenoweth,
Peter Anthony Lewis, and Rena Rudavsky,
Analysis of Government Accountability Ofce Bid Protests in Air Force Source
Selections over the Past Two Decades
, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, TR-883-AF, 2012.
v
Contents
Preface ...........iii
Figures ...........vii
Tables ix
Summary ........xi
Acknowledgments ........xix
Abbreviations ..xxi
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction .....1
How RAND Conducted the Study ....1
Bid Protest Issue Areas Tat Congress Directed Be Studied 2
Organization of Tis Report 5
CHAPTER TWO
Bid Protest Defnition, Brief Historical Overview, and Related Research ...7
Defning Bid Protests ........7
History of Bid Protests .....10
Goals and Teory Behind Bid Protests ...........11
Review of Quantitative Research on Bid Protest Activity ..12
Conclusions ......14
CHAPTER THREE
Stakeholder Perspectives on the Bid Protest System ....15
FY 2017 NDAA Guidelines for Obtaining Stakeholder Perspectives.15
DoD Stakeholder Perspectives .........16
Industry Stakeholder Perspectives .....19
Conclusions .....22
CHAPTER FOUR
Quantitative Analysis of DoD Bid Protest Activity Since FY 2008 at GAO...........23
GAO Data Characterization and Issues .........23
GAO Protests by DoD Agency .......26
Firms with Largest Contracts Awarded .........28
Pattern of Protest Filings at GAO .....29
Protest Characteristics .....30
Quantitative Observations Specifc to GAO ....40。