Department of Energy:

Improving Management of Major System Acquisitions

T-RCED-97-92: Published: Mar 6, 1997. Publicly Released: Mar 6, 1997.

Additional Materials:

Contact:

Victor S. Rezendes
(202) 512-6082
contact@gao.gov

 

Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
youngc1@gao.gov

GAO discussed the Department of Energy's (DOE) performance in completing its largest and most significant projects, referred to as major system acquisitions, focusing on: (1) the key factors that hinder the timely, cost-effective completion of the acquisitions; and (2) what is being done to improve DOE's performance.

GAO noted that: (1) from 1980 through 1996, DOE conducted 80 projects that it designated as major system acquisitions; (2) 31 of those projects were terminated prior to completion, after expenditures of over $10 billion; (3) only 15 of the projects were completed, and most of them were finished behind schedule and with cost overruns; (4) further, 3 of the 15 projects have not yet been used for their intended purpose; (5) the remaining 34 projects are ongoing, many with substantial cost increases and schedule slippage; (6) GAO believes there are four key factors underlying the cost overruns, schedule slippage, and terminations of DOE's most critical projects: (a) unclear or changing missions; (b) the incremental funding of projects; (c) a flawed system of incentives both for DOE's employees and contractors; and (d) a lack of sufficient DOE personnel with the appropriate skills to effectively oversee contractors' operations; (7) on the positive side, DOE is implementing several initiatives that could help improve its overall management as well as the management of individual major system acquisitions; and (8) GAO believes that the implementation of these initiatives offers DOE an excellent opportunity to address the key factors.

Sep 29, 2016

Sep 28, 2016

Sep 27, 2016

Sep 26, 2016

Sep 23, 2016

Sep 21, 2016

Sep 7, 2016

Aug 30, 2016

Looking for more? Browse all our products here