Cost as an Independent Variable

The purpose of this research was to assess whether Aeronautical Systems Center’s (ASC’s) acquisition professionals believe Cost as an Independent Variable (CAIV) has enabled their programs and contractors to set and maintain cost objectives. The three major objectives of this thesis are to answer the following questions: First, Do ASC’s acquisition professionals believe their programs are setting and maintaining cost objectives? Second, Do ASC’s acquisition professionals believe their contractors are setting and maintaining cost objectives? Last, what is the practitioners’ perspective of CAIV? This research identified CAIV as being well received by DoD. It also identified that ASC’s acquisition professionals believe their programs and contractors are setting and maintaining cost objectives. Through synthesis of the interview answers, a few unexpected practitioners’ perspectives emerged as conclusions. First, there are no incentives for DoD programs to implement CAIV.

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