Economies of scale and implementation efficiencies of fully integrated environmental programs in view of fiscal uncertainties: A case for consolidation of environmental services at federal installations

Abstract

In spite of an extraordinary administrative burden, most environmental support services at military and other federal installations tend to be split among various contractors along functional lines. This portioning of services introduces many inefficiencies and fails to take advantage of potential economies of scale. Inefficiencies can be worsened dramatically when funding uncertainties are introduced. Consolidation of all environmental services at a federal facility, including environmental operations and maintenance, under a single contract facilitates a phenomenon of organizational integration. With management attention, integration can be nurtured and maximized, substantially reducing program costs while dramatically improving quality and responsiveness.

The natural world is replete with examples from which we may learn to be better managers. Uncertainties in program funding create essentially the same challenges to business managers as uncertainties in the supply of food and nutrients present to natural populations. By viewing temporal trends in programfunding in the same way that nature views trends in resource supply we may better understand how the introduction of funding uncertainties impacts the evolution of the optimal team size and skill mix. And we may also evaluate how a fully integrated environmental program can work to offset the deleterious effects of unpredictable program funding.