Group Contracting

Abstract

The pattern of military electronics procurement in recent years has shifted away from large-scale production of relatively simple systems-black boxes, they may be called-and toward the development and production of fewer systems of increasing complexity. To meet the challenges imposed by this change, the industry has found it necessary, in many cases, to form teams of specialist organizations, each possessing one or more of the capabilities necessary for the task in question. Although the structure of the relationships which bind the team together may vary, the basic attributes are the same. In this paper, the characteristics of team contracting are revealed and the advantages of this form of solving specific military problems are discussed.