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Strategies for Small Business Administration 8(A) 
Business Development Program-Certified Firms in 
Program Years 4-6 
 

Sherri L. Johnston., DBA, MPA, PMP | Columbia Southern University, Orange Beach, Alabama, USA 

Michelle Preiksaitis, JD, PhD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP | Coastal Organizational Research and Learning 
Strategies LLC (CORALS LLC) 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3064-2392  

Contact: sherri.johnston@columbiasouthern.edu  

Abstract 
This study explored the practices of 8(a) principal-owners who were active in the Small Business 
Administration 8(a) social or economically disadvantaged business program during years 4 to 6 
(midphase). The study aimed to determine whether specific practices contributed to federal contracting 
bidding outcomes during the competitive phase of the program and to create a taxonomy of best 
practices. The qualitative inquiry study employed the critical incident technique. Participants (N = 11) 
interviewed were 8(a) program principals who had completed at least Year 6 of the program. Critical 
incidents (N = 81) recollected from their bidding experiences during the midphase of the program were 
documented, explored, and analyzed. Thematic analysis data analysis process resulted in themes:  From 
these themes, a taxonomy of strategic practices for use by 8(a) firms was created, which included: 
Developing additional relationships, learning to price competitively, creating high-quality proposals, and 
ensuring proper communication. The study was limited to the experiences of 11 individual principals 
from multiple businesses which operated and bid on federal projects during the midphase of the 8(a) 
program. The taxonomy may aid future principals in the early to midphases of the 8(a) program to build 
an overall strategy for successful transition from the program into a sustainable small business in the 
federal contracting sector. No other critical incident technique studies have been conducted on the 
midphase members of 8(a) contract bidders. The study filled a gap, providing valuable insights to 
current or potential 8(a) federal contractors. 

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3064-2392


 

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June 2022 | Volume 1, Number 2 

Keywords: Economically and Socially Disadvantaged Small Businesses, SBA 8(a) Business 
Development Program, Small Business Survival, Federal Contracting 

  



 

 

 

79 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

Introduction 
Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act of the United States was designed, in part, to increase the 
participation of socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses in federal contracting. In 
1997, the federal government assigned an annual goal to the Small Business Administration (SBA) to 
award at least 23% of federal contracts to small businesses (Schilling et al., 2017), with 5% specifically 
set aside for 8(a)-certified firms. While these goals have been met in some years (SBA, 2019), the 
complex, lengthy, and costly federal contracting bidding processes create challenges and barriers for 
small businesses owned by socially or economically disadvantaged principals. Often, contract dollars 
remained unclaimed by 8(a) bidders because of failing to continue through on bidding for the awards. 
To address this situation, this study collected structured insights from successful 8(a) bidders and 
compiled a taxonomy of practices for future 8(a)-certified (8aC) bidders. 

Background 
Many small businesses, including 8aCs, fail to win federal contract awards. In FY19, only 38% (2,273 
out of 5,872) of 8aCs received new contract awards (United States Small Business Administration, 
2020; USA Spending, 2020). Schilling et al. (2017) showed that small businesses fail to hold continuous 
contracts for successive years or win the awards of multiple contracts valid for more than a year, even 
with SBA aid and 8(a) program considerations. While SBA scorecards reflect how many contracts are 
issued or won by various types of small businesses, before our study, only two other studies have 
explored what successful business owners have done to win bids and sustain their businesses throughout 
the program years.  
 
Coley (2015) and Wagner (2019) noted that strategic plans created early in the program lead to more 
successful graduates of the 8(a) program. Further, Bradt (2020) noted that the successfully negotiating 
the midphase of the program showed the highest likelihood of completing it successfully.  
 

Studied Problem and Gap in Practice 
Berteau and Swan (2018) reported that despite graduating from an 8(a) program, 10 years later, more 
than 60% of these businesses were no longer bidding on or receiving government contracts. Shear 
(2019) noted that 23% of 6, 7, and 8-year program participants during fiscal years 2014-2017 did not 
receive any competitive bidding awards; they lost out to larger businesses, according to Wagner (2019). 
Wagner noted that these 8(a) participants elected instead to apply only to the protected and set-aside 
contracts, which created false senses of fiscal security. By not competing for competitive contracts, a 
gap in practice occurs in these businesses, and their principals do not gain the skills and experience 
necessary to compete for federal contracts without relying on the benefits of the 8(a) program (Lewis, 
2017). Due to the lack of competitive efforts, 8aCs were not learning how to transition from the program 
(Bradt, 2020). This study attempted to fill this gap in practice by creating a taxonomy of strategic 
practices for 8aCs to learn how to succeed during their transition. 



 

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Research Approach 
The project employed a critical incidents technique (CIT) within a qualitative inquiry design using as 
participants, principals of 8aCs who had successfully maneuvered through the midphase of 8(a) 
competitive processes and had become a competitive bid award winner. CIT participants were asked to 
recall times when their behaviors or actions positively or negatively impacted the outcome of a 
competitive bidding event. Those instances were collected as data points called critical incidents (Bott & 
Tourish, 2016; Chell & Pittaway, 1998).   

The CIT process allows for respondents to contribute numerous incidents, with the possibility of 
collecting hundreds or even thousands of incidents through several interviews (Flanagan, 1954). Data 
saturation aims to reach a point where new incidents’ contribution does not add further information for 
analysis (FitzGerald et al., 2008).  

CIT sampling strategy is different from most research techniques. Instead of a planned number of 
participants, sample size in a CIT project is based on the number of incidents collected (Butterfield et 
al., 2005), with varying numbers of incidents determined as saturation based on the study and various 
CIT experts. As few as 50 incidents (Lockwood, 1994) or as many as 100 critical incidents (Santha et 
al., 2016) have been used as targets for category building. It was assumed that each participant would 
contribute at least eight to ten incidents to set the a priori minimum sample size at eight participants and 
50 minimum incidents. For this study, 11 participants were interviewed, providing 81 remembered 
incidents. 

Research Question 
What strategic practices do successful 8aC principals use during years 4 to 6 of the 8(a) program which 
they perceived contributed to winning (or losing) competitive bids on federal contracts? 

Strategic Planning 
Socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses experience challenges and barriers to federal 
contracting, including cost (Josephson et al., 2019; Orazem et al., 2017), complexity (Josephson et al., 
2019; Schilling et al., 2017), and insufficient past performance (Cox et al., 2014; Manuel, 2015). Skrt 
and Antoncic (2004) concluded that achieving firm-wide support for a precisely formulated strategy can 
benefit smaller firms’ growth. Improving strategic planning could have a positive effect on the 
development of 8aCs.  
 
Strategic management often uses both the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and the competitive-
based view (CBV) of the organization to establish how to create a unique and sustainable position in a 
competitive environment. The RBV holds that organizations should look inside of the company at its 
capabilities and resources, instead of outside at the competitive environment, to find the sources of 
competitive advantage and gain a unique and sustainable position (Barney, 1991; Jurevicius, 2013; Luo 



 

 

 

81 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

& Child, 2015). The CBV provides that small firms gain opportunities by leveraging commonly traded 
resources acquirable by other firms through relationships (Tehseen et al., 2019).   
 

Applied Framework 
According to Wagner (2019) and Bradt (2020), earlier competition attempts can be combined with, and 
supported by, strategic use of unique benefits of the 8(a) program such as sole-source and set-aside 
opportunities and the resources the SBA provides to 8aCs. Both Wagner and Bradt identified the middle 
phase of the 9-year term of the 8(a) Business Development program as a pivotal developmental point in 
the program. This study employed an applied framework of dynamic capability-based strategic planning 
within the middle phase of the nine-year term of the 8(a) Business Development Program. 
 

Three Phases of 8(a) Program 
Wagner (2019) and Bradt (2020) described three phases for SBA 8(a) participation: early, middle, and 
late. Figure 1 shows the phases of the 8(a) 9-year program with phase activity suggestions from 
Wagner’s and Bradt’s research. This study focused on the middle phase (highlighted in Figure 1). 
 

  



 

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June 2022 | Volume 1, Number 2 

Figure 1 

8(a) 9-Year Program Phase Strategies 

 
 
Note. Lists created from research findings by Wagner (2019 [W]), and Bradt (2020 [B]).  
*13 CFR § 124.509 provides specific “non-8(a) business activity targets” which are expressed as a % of 
an 8aCs total revenue. These targets increase over the 9-year period. See Table 1. 

  



 

 

 

83 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

Table 1 

8(a) Business Activity Target Timeframes   

8(a) Participation Year 
in SBA Transition 

Phase 

Business Activity Target 

1 15% 
2 25% 
3 35% 
4 45% 
5 55% 

 
 
 

SBA’s Phases of the Program 
 
Whereas Figure 1 shows three phases of the 8(a) program, the SBA looks at the program as two-phased: 
developmental and transitional. Within these two phases, the SBA requires that 8aCs have income other 
than federal contracts and sets business activity targets (BATs) to avoid over-reliance on set-aside 
contracts (What are Non-8(a), 2020). Table 1 sets out the BATs for the final transitional phase of the 
program, which Bradt (2020) had called out as an important strategic focus of late phased 8aCs. 
 
As part of the developmental phase, the SBA and federal regulations also provide a 7(j) program which 
is available to 8aCs. Bradt (2020) outlined the need for 8aCs to actively seek training in critical business 
development activities using the 7(j) program to build business development skills. Further, the SBA 
provides a Mentor-Protégé and Joint Venture (JV) program to allow 8aCs to partner with larger and 
more experienced and resourced companies (Gallagher, 2015; Lewis, 2017). JVs mitigate barriers such 
as a lack of past performance records, or limitations in finances, infrastructure, resources, and 
capabilities (Wagner, 2019). A graduating company can partner with an 8aC protégé, provide 60% of 
the contract’s support, and receive the 8(a) program’s benefits while mentoring that organization. 
 

Literature Review 
Historically, challenges to participating in federal contracting include the costs, complexity, time factors, 
and past performance requirements. Orazem et al. (2017) found investment in time and resources to pursue 
a government contract and the required relationships is a significant barrier. The delay between bidding 
and acquisition of a government contract award financially constrains small businesses needing to sustain 
salaries and operations (Cox et al., 2014). Additionally, absent a guarantee for selection, the pre-bid costs 



 

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to establish the bid requirements can cripple small, fledgling businesses (Fortney et al., 2015).  
 
To participate in federal contracting, companies must develop separate product lines and corporate 
systems for marketing tactics, audits, human resource management, operational activities, and social 
responsibility (Josephson et al., 2019). The expensive systems, learning and compliance investments 
(Josephson et al.), and lowered profit margins (Schilling et al., 2017) required to meet the government’s 
strict standards often outweigh scale and efficiency benefits experienced while awaiting contract award 
(Josephson et al., 2019). A 1993 statute reform required the government to evaluate and document a 
contractor’s performance on contracts and orders with a value higher than the simplified acquisition 
threshold (Manuel, 2015). Fortney et al. (2015) and Cox et al., (2014) noted that unique procurement 
processes and rules, such as highly specialized cost accounting practices, also reduced high-quality 
providers and bidders. These costs on disadvantaged small businesses create reliance on the set-aside bids, 
deterring them from competitive bidding.  
 
Changes to size, definitions of disadvantaged, and the complex 8aC requirements also deter small 
businesses or lead to specific anti-competitiveness. For example, Alaska Native Corporations, NHOs, and 
tribes can own multiple 8aCs concurrently and an indefinite number of 8aCs over time, making them 
exempt from the one-time-eligibility rule (Koprince & Patterson, 2019). These can result in Super 8aCs 
that out-resource and out-bid the regular 8aCs.  
 
Previous researchers identified challenges and barriers experienced by firms when attempting to 
participate in federal contracting, but not specifically on 8aCs. Orazem et al. (2017) used a survey of 
startups, venture capital firms, and angel funds and did not focus on disadvantaged small businesses. Cox 
et al. (2014) focused on nontraditional government suppliers, specifically contracting with the DoD. 
Although Schilling et al. (2017) identified challenges and barriers experienced by small businesses 
contracting with the DoD, they did not identify the experiences of 8aCs. Josephson et al. (2019) studied 
the performance implications of the business-to-government exchange on publicly traded firms but did 
not include privately held firms.  
 
 Existing literature did not offer 8aCs suggested solutions for reducing the identified challenges or 
mitigating the barriers beyond calling for changes in government regulations. The literature reviewed did 
not allude to the effects of the super 8aCs on regular 8aCs because the studies were focused on other 
groups of federal contractors. This study specifically focused on creating a taxonomy of the effects of 
critical incidents experienced by 8aCs on the bidding outcomes for federal contracts. 
 

Participant Recruitment 
The 11 participants (see Table 2) were recruited using a nonrandom, vertical, and horizontal snowball 
sampling process. Seed practitioners encouraged others to participate (Taherdoost, 2016) and to refer 
others (Geddes et al., 2018; Sharma, 2017). Screening requirements included: owning an 8aC as a 
principle (51%+), participating in the 8(a) program for at least 6 years, having bid on at least one 
competitive contract within the program, and having a DUNS and NAICS number and code (used to 
validate the contract award).  
  



 

 

 

85 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

Table 2 

Participant Profiles 

P# Primary Re-
gion of Busi-
ness 

NAICS Description Products/ 
Services 

Employ-
ees 

Federal 
Contract 
Awards 

      
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 

Southeast 
Southwest 
East Coast 
Southwest 
Mid-Atlantic 
Mid-Atlantic 
Southeast 
Southwest 
East Coast 
Southeast 
Mid-Atlantic 

Management Consulting  
Computer Design  
Industrial Construction 
Site Preparation Contractors 
Management Consulting  
Commercial and Institutional 
Construction 
Scientific and Technical Con-
sulting Services 
Commercial and Institutional 
Construction 
 

S 
P&S 
S 
P&S 
S 
S 
S 
P&S 
S 
S 
S 

0-50 
0-50 
0-50 
0-50 
0-50 
0-50 
0-50 
0-50 
51-100 
>100 
0-50 

$30-40M 
$20-30M 
$20-30M 
$11-20M 
$11-20M 
$11-20M 
$1-10M 
$1-10M 
$11-20M 
$150-200M 
$1-10M 

Note. Reflects data as of February 20, 2021. Data retrieved from USASpending.gov. 
 
 Interviews were conducted via Zoom between January 29 and February 12, 2021. Interview 
lengths were 12 to 59 minutes, with the average interview at 37 minutes. A semi-structured interview 
protocol was used which had been reviewed by two field experts. Data saturation (81 critical incidents) 
ended the interview portion of the data collection (see Table 3). The data collection for this project was 
done during the second year of the COVID-based pandemic, and therefore, the project findings are 
relevant to the change to procurement and strategy which has become a new business normal. 
 
Table 3 
 
Critical Incident Classification by Bidding Outcome Type 
 
Bidding Outcome Type Count Percentage 
Successful 
Unsuccessful 
Total 

47 
34 
81 

58% 
42% 
100% 

 

Data Analysis 
 
Data analysis occurred in four phases, including a) compilation and review of data with analysis and 
descriptive coding, b) aggregating the codes into categories, c) interpreting the data, and d) and 
reporting, using Yin (2016) qualitative research analysis process, but adapted to the critical incident 
technique.  



 

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June 2022 | Volume 1, Number 2 

 
The interview data were analyzed by applying contextual codes relating to experiences bidding on 
federal contracts; codes were aggregated into categories by similarity. Twenty contextual codes were 
defined, and 148 instances of the codes were noted (see Table 4, also see Data Links for the full 
codebook).  
 
Table 4 
 
Associated Contextual Code Frequencies 
 
Associated Contextual Code Frequency  Percent-

age 
Assessing Costing for Bid 
Relationship with Sub Contractors or Teaming Partners 
Past Performance 
Proposal Quality 
Relationship with Customer 
Relationship with Contracting Officer 
Understanding the RFP 
Staffing Strategy 
Technical Writing 
Networking 
Small Bidder Pool 
Relationship with PTAC 
Unable to get Appropriate Bonding 
Business Development Effort 
Communication with Government 
Access to Government Facilities 
Marketing Strategy 
8(a) Company Insourcing 
Project Management Skills 
Government Insourcing 
Grand Total 

31 
20 
19 
14 
13 
10 
6 
5 
4 
4 
4 
3 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
1 

148 

20.95% 
13.51% 
12.84% 
9.46% 
8.78% 
6.76% 
4.05% 
3.38% 
2.70% 
2.70% 
2.70% 
2.03% 
1.35% 
1.35% 
1.35% 
1.35% 
1.35% 
1.35% 
1.35% 
0.68% 
100% 

 
Note. Reflects the number of times an associated contextual code was assigned to the critical incident 
data and the percentage of the occurrence. 
 
The participant responses were aligned with defined practice categories (Table 5) 
  



 

 

 

87 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

Table 5 
 

Practice Category Definition 

Practice Category Description 
Relationships 8aC has established relationships with the Sub Contractors, Teaming 

Partners, Contracting Officers, Customers, and PTACs in various 
ways that affect the bidding outcome. 
 

Technical Expertise The 8aC has skills or experience that can show the government that 
the same or similar work that the 8aC has successfully completed af-
fects the bidding outcome. 
 

Proposal Preparation The 8aC understands the requirements of the RFP and uses technical 
writing skills to prepare a high-quality proposal, including a tech-
nical description of work to be completed, pricing, staffing strategy, 
and the presentation that affects the bidding outcome. 
 

Pricing The 8aC can adequately price a bid that affects the bidding outcome. 
 

Marketing and Busi-
ness Development 

The 8aC uses Networking through attending events, conferences, 
having association memberships, or other social networking chan-
nels, and undertakes marketing activities to promote the selling of a 
product or service that affects the bidding outcome. 
 

Limit Competition The 8aC makes use of set-asides and sole source contracting bene-
fits or other potential contracting programs that create a smaller bid-
ding pool that affects the bidding outcome. 
 

Resourcing The 8aC has created internal capabilities for tasks that are usually 
outsourced to subcontractors that may reduce costs that affect the 
bidding outcome. 
 

Communication The 8aC has an open line of communication between all parties, al-
lowing questions to be answered, influencing the bidding outcome 

 
Next, codes were aggregated into categories. Table 6 reflects the frequencies of the associated 
contextual codes applied to the critical incident data and the percentage of practice category occurrence. 
The practice categories with the highest frequencies emerged as relationships, pricing, proposal 
preparation, and technical expertise, comprising 85% of the total code frequencies. The data were 
aggregated into categories by codes and analyzed for frequencies. 
 
 



 

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Table 6 
 
Associated Contextual Code Frequencies by Practice Category 
 
Practice Category/Associated Contextual Code Frequency Percent-

age 
Relationships 

Relationship with Sub Contractors or Teaming Partners 
Relationship with Customer 
Relationship with Contracting Officer 
Relationship with PTAC 

Pricing 
Assessing Costing for Bid 

Proposal Preparation 
Proposal Quality 
Understanding the RFP 
Staffing Strategy 
Technical Writing 

Technical Expertise 
Past Performance 
Project Management Skills 
Marketing and Business Development 
Networking 
Marketing Strategy 
Access to Government Facilities 

Business Development Effort 
Resourcing 
8(a) Company Insourcing 
Unable to get Appropriate Bonding 
Government Insourcing 

Limit Competition 
Small Bidder Pool 

Communication 
Communication with Government 

Total 

46 
20 
13 
10 
3 
31 
31 
29 
14 
6 
5 
4 
21 
19 
2 
10 
4 
2 
2 
2 
5 
2 
2 
1 
4 
4 
2 
2 

148 

31.08% 
13.51% 
8.78% 
6.76% 
2.03% 
20.95% 
20.95% 
19.59% 
9.46% 
4.05% 
3.38% 
2.70% 
14.19% 
12.84% 
1.35% 
6.76% 
2.70% 
1.35% 
1.35% 
1.35% 
3.38% 
1.35% 
1.35% 
0.68% 
2.70% 
2.70% 
1.35% 
1.35% 

100.00% 
 
The categories were then distributed and associated with the successful and unsuccessful outcomes (see 
Table 7). 
  



 

 

 

89 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

Table 7 

Practice Category Frequencies by Outcome 

Outcome/ Practice Category Frequency Percentage 
Successful 

Relationships 
Technical Expertise 
Proposal Preparation 
Pricing 
Marketing and Business Development 
Limit Competition 
Resourcing 
Communication 

Unsuccessful 
Pricing 
Relationships 
Proposal Preparation 
Resourcing 
Marketing and Business Development 
Technical Expertise 
Communication 

Total 

            92 
28 
20 
17 
12 
8 
4 
2 
1 

            56 
19 
18 
12 
3 
2 
1 
1 

          148 

62.16% 
18.92% 
13.51% 
11.49% 
8.11% 
5.41% 
2.70% 
1.35% 
0.68% 
37.84% 
12.84% 
12.16% 
8.11% 
2.03% 
1.35% 
0.68% 
0.68% 

100.00% 
 
Note. Reflects the frequency of a practice category by category for assignment to critical incident data 
and the percentage of the occurrence. 
 
Relationships (31%), pricing (21%), and proposal preparation (20%) topped the practices that emerged 
from both the successful and unsuccessful outcomes (see Table 8).  
 
Table 8 

Practice Category Frequencies and Counts 

Practice Category Successful 
Frequency 

Successful 
Percentage 

Unsuccessful 
Frequency 

Unsuccessful 
Percentage 

Relationships 
Pricing 
Proposal Preparation 
Technical Expertise 
Marketing & Business Dev 
Resourcing 
Limit Competition 
Communication 
Total 

28 
12 
17 
20 
8 
2 
4 
1 
92 

18.92% 
8.11% 
11.49% 
13.51% 
5.41% 
1.35% 
2.70% 
0.68% 
62.16% 

18 
19 
12 
1 
2 
3 
0 
1 
56 

12.16% 
12.84% 
8.11% 
0.68% 
1.35% 
2.03% 
0.00% 
0.68% 
37.84% 



 

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Findings from the Critical Incidents Data 
When participants recollected a critical incident, this lent credence to how the event contributed to the 
success or failure of the bid. The following data provides both participant (P) comments as well as 
indication when those involved a critical incident (CI). A critical incident was defined as a bidding 
outcome, either successful or unsuccessful. From these data points, the practice categories emerged from 
the discussions with the participants and supported the final taxonomy from the research (Johnston, 
2021). 

Building Relationships 
The literature noted that relationship building with subcontractors was critical to the success of the 
bidding process and the results of the study affirmed this. In CI-25, P3 won the contract after competing 
against five other contractors; P3 thought their win was due to their relationship with…”a great group of 
subcontractors, and we typically will team up with the right subcontractor.” However, the literature did 
not mention relationships with customers, contract officers, or Procurement Technical Assistant Centers 
(PTACs). The study results did find these were pivotal relationships.  

In CI-60, P9 indicated that the other relationships with the contracting officer and the customer had a 
positive impact on bidding outcomes and stated that: 

The more you get into talk and see the contracting officer, the government program managers, the site 
leads and get to learn their requirements and then brief your company’s capabilities and meeting the 
requirements, the more comfortable they are at maybe awarding you that contract, knowing that you 
know you’re proven that you can meet those requirements. 

In CI-43, P6 indicated that the onset of COVID-19 has placed a hardship on 8aCs building these 
relationships and stated that: 

Just individual jobs they do that around here also the same people will bid a job, just at costs below just 
to get on the base so they can get access to the contracting officers...A lot, and of course this is pre-
COVID but pre-911 we could go talk to the contractor officer anytime we wanted. Then it started 
tightening up a little bit on the bases, and it wasn’t as open and now you can’t get to them at all because 
they’re all working from home. That’s your end to get these jobs to get in with the contracting officer. 
Especially 8(a)’s, sole source. 

In CI-65, P10 bid on an IDIQ contract and had a successful bidding outcome. P10 expressed the 
importance of an 8aC’s relationship with the customer, saying: 

Certainly, was based on our relationships. We had been working in [the area] doing [specialized] work 
along with bunch of other work for [other customers], and the new [customer’s employee] came in…we 
got the contract because one of our clients in [the overseas location] had moved...looked around and 



 

 

 

91 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

said wait a second, I need some help here you guys did...I need you...redo it here and we got a direct 
award...sometimes there’s relationships with the customer and that works, really, really well. 

Pricing 
While pricing was not part of the literature review findings, the study results showed that strategic pricing 
was critical toward winning awards. In CI-47, P7 bid on the contract that required a long proposal with 
four parts and did not win the bid. P7 stated,  
 
We are always skeptical on the price, and we always need help on that, and I think everybody do[sic] 
need help, because you don’t know what the other people bidding, they might be bidding almost 50% 
lower than you. 
 
In CI-29, P4 bid on a contract with subcontractors they knew well, and the subcontractor gave them a 
good price. This helped them to bid more competitively. P4 recounted, 
 
Having the price advantage of people who were willing to, you know, really be thoughtful, put a good 
price to it on every single trade involved, and then we self-performed the [type of work], which was a 
small percent that really gave us competitive edge. We won that by about 20% and we still made overhead 
and profit we expected, so no misses. 
 
CI-54 combined pricing with relationships: P9 bid on the opportunity with a mentor in the formal 
relationship under the Mentor-Protégé program. P9 was the prime, and the mentor was the subcontractor. 
P9 relied on the subcontractor’s knowledge of the business and came in with a high price. P9 stated, 
 
So, we relied on one of their individuals to have knowledge about [the customer], the requirements, as 
well as what it would take to hire qualified people. Which, as you know, informs our pricing. So again, 
we relied heavily on their corporate knowledge about [the customer] and what would it take to price it 
correctly, and unfortunately, we were high, so we’re high on price which led us to not get the award. 
 
Relying on the pricing of others without direct understanding can lead to a failed bidding attempt. In CI-
37, P4’s bid required using a specialized subcontractor. P4’s subcontractor’s high price inflated the overall 
bid. Due to lack of a previous relationship, P4 decided to overlap the work of the subcontractor to provide 
comfort. However, this duplication increase the costs and they lost the bid. P4 shared that 
 
This one was another situation…where there’s a lot of subcontractors, a lot of things were missed by the 
lowest bids from our subs…the [specific sub-contractor] bid with assumptions that may have been wrong 
and those assumptions brought the price up to keep them safe, as opposed to…going after exactly how it 
was written and…assuming that the government would be forgiving. 
 

Proposal Presentation 
 
The literature review explained that understanding the proposal and bidding process is a significant barrier 



 

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to 8aC success. This study validated this explanation and the barrier’s significance and provided context 
through the use of the critical incidents reflected by the participants. Small business owners must 
understand the federal rules and regulations that favor their government experience over others in the same 
industry (Josephson et al., 2019). In CI-47, P7 lost a bid and stated: 
 
The SBA small business folks...that teach us how to approach it...we didn’t get more training on 
approaching these types of large contracts that we’re bidding on…do you fit, how do you fit in this 
contract…is the company capital ready to handle this type of contract…you know you’re trying to fit in, 
let’s say that you know, because you’re a small company. 
 
In CI-49, P8 won a bid with competition from two companies for a Basic Ordering Agreement, stating,  
 
I don’t really feel like a whole lot put me above another contractor, other than already kind of knowing 
the system on how to do proposals. And knowing what the [customer] is looking for. 
 
P8 felt that knowing how to put together a high-quality proposal was the tipping point. 
 
In CI-57, P9 shared that they lost a bid despite knowing the work and the price line; a late cost submission 
by their partner contributed to a high price and negative outcome. P9 was the subcontractor to a primary 
that prepared an inadequate proposal, lacked a staffing strategy, and had inadequate technical writing 
skills. P9 stated: 
 
It was right up our wheelhouse, and you know as a pretty good contract and when it came up for 
recompete, it…happened to be oasis contract vehicle which my company did not have...I did know a few 
other businesses that had the oasis contract, approached them to be the prime and we would be their 
subcontractor knowing that...we knew the work, we had all the people lined up for the positions, we knew 
how to bid the customer...relied heavily on this new prime to put together good proposal. 
 

Past Performance and Technical Experience 
 
A contractor’s technical experience and past performance on contracts are known requirements to 
successfully bid on contracts. Past performances are stored in the Contractor Performance Assessment 
Reporting System (CPARS), indicating the level to which bidders have professionally conducted contract 
management, maintained proper business relationships, and conducted appropriate oversight of 
subcontracting efforts with smaller businesses (Manuel, 2015). Cox et al. (2014), McCuin (2017), and 
Orazem et al. (2017) noted the importance of past performance and technical expertise, and this study 
confirmed these previous findings.   
 
In CI-54, P9, as prime contractor, used the mentor program to bid (unsuccessfully) on an opportunity with 
a subcontractor mentor. P9 relied on the subcontractor’s knowledge due to P9’s lack of past performance 
and technical experience.  
 
We relied on one of their individuals to have knowledge about [the customer], the requirements, as well 



 

 

 

93 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

as what it would take to hire qualified people (P9).  
 
Because P9 did not have the past performance with the work for the customer, the 8aC had to rely too 
heavily on the mentor and came in with a price that was too high. P9 associated the unsuccessful outcome 
with past performance and technical expertise inexperience. 
 
In CI-65, P10’s past experiences led to a successful bid on an IDIQ contract: 
 
[Our] team had really pulled together kind of here’s what we’ve done for [the customer] here’s what 
we’ve done, also for [another customer]…We could give them a solution that made sense, and we already 
had essentially a product that we could adapt to what they needed, and so that was…the ability to do that. 
 
In CI-24, a successful bid on a design-build project stemmed from past experiences and technical 
expertise:  
 
We’ve also had our project managers [who] have had experience working at the [customer location] for 
over 20 years…So, we were able to…check all those boxes (P3).  
 
P3 referred to their previous technical experiences in later comments. 
 
P1 reminded that past experiences only happen if you start bidding to learn.  
 
Because I had invested time and research, I’m going to bid. Sometimes you got a bid, so you learn. 
 
P3 agreed that the smaller contracts make sense to start with, for practice and learning:  
 
Yes, yes, because when you look at the data, it’s kind of like if you put a hockey stick sideways, you know 
your [years] 1-2-3-4-5 is very flat, and then it starts going up and hopefully year seven, eight, or years 
eight through ten it peaks a little bit higher. 
 
Some other tips towards past performance include debriefing. P3 indicated:  
 
A lot of times if I lose a bid, we asked for the debrief. Right, you always ask for a debrief. 
 

Marketing, Business Development, Resourcing, and 
Communication 
 
Building relationships is a strategic practice, although the marketing, business development, resourcing, 
and communication aspects of this were not discussed by either Bradt (2020) or Wagner (2019). Lacking 
these strategies led to failed bids, according to the critical incidents reflected by the participants of this 
study (Table 9).  
  



 

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Table 9 

Marketing and Business Development, Resourcing, Limited Competition and Communication 

CI P# Type Comment 
14 
 
60 
 
 
 
 
 
 
68 
 
 
 
 
81 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28 
 
 
 
 
 
12 
 
 
 
 
32 
 

1 
 
9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10 
 
 
 
 
11 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4 
 
 
 
 
 
1 
 
 
 
 
4 
 

M&BD 
 
M&BD 
 
 
 
 
 
 
M&BD 
 
 
 
 
R 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
R 
 
 
 
 
 
R 
 
 
 
 
LC 
 

You got to have some connections at these military bases. 
 
So one, you’re very interested in the requirement, two, your briefing 
your company’s capabilities, so you can perform…when they see 
your proposal come across their desk it’s not just another proposal. 
This guy came in to see me, you know I remember them, and then 
they read your proposal, and then perhaps it gives you just that little 
bit of a leg up. 
 
We did have a relationship in that office, it was someone who I had 
worked with in the White House...and she had reached out to us and 
said hey, I’m standing up this office. I’m really struggling…I need 
someone, so we talked to her. 
 
We went through the whole process and we lost it…but they were   
requiring some bonding and we couldn’t fulfill that…I won, but I   
didn’t get it. and 
 
We have the experience, we have all the manpower, we have every-
thing in place to do the work, we price it, we get best price, but it was 
a problem which is one of the…bonding, it doesn’t make sense, why 
the SBA does with bonding for the 8(a)’s. They’re supposed to be 
something to help...it’s not realistic for a small business to have $10 
million in bonding…probably one of the biggest obstacles that we 
have in the program…we were probably the lower the price, but I 
didn’t provide the bond. 
 
The strategy of our company is finding jobs where the scope of work 
includes a lot of [type of work] because that is a heavy cost that not a 
lot of general contractors can do themselves. So, we have a unique 
advantage in that field that one was entirely because we insourced the 
[type of work] aspect. 
 
They wanted us to stand up a contract…we built the program, we 
hired for the program, we structured the program, we built the entire 
program and then in year seven they insourced it...you can’t control 
what the government wants to do it says that in your contract. 
 



 

 

 

95 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

 
 
 
 
49 
 
 
 
55 
 

 
 
 
 
8 
 
 
 
9 

 
 
 
 
LC 
 
 
 
C 

The [customer] they’ve given us multi awards. So, we’re in there 
with a smaller bidder pool, and those are successful getting task or-
ders for us because…our strategy, it’s just getting a smaller bidder 
pool…and that’s kind of why we’re going to be successful, getting 
out of 8(a) program, because of that past experience. 
 
Every year there’s someone else entering and…leaving the 
BOA...Every year it either stays the same or someone’s leaving, and 
someone’s coming in, but it’s still limited group of contractors.   
 
My business partner is really our pricing guru, so we did a lot of     
research, this time not just leaning on them put together a great    
technical, very competitive price based on our research, submitted it 
and then unfortunately, when I check back with the contracting      
officer for some reason, they did not ultimately receive our           
proposal...it was it was entirely devastating 

 
Note. M&BD = marketing and business development; R = resources; LC = limited competition; C = 
communication. 
 

Summary of Findings 
 
To create a taxonomy of practices, a critical incidents technique was used with 11 8aC principals 
recollected ideas and thoughts surrounding lost and won bid awards in the federal contracting system. The 
Johnston (2021) taxonomy was supported by relevant data from the study. The overarching findings of 
the study provided that creating relationships with other vendors, subcontractors, contracting officers, 
PTAC, and customers, having or finding technical expertise to create the proposals or relying on the PTAC 
assistance provided by the SBA program, creating well documented and accurate proposals, having 
appropriate resources in place to support the proposal, including a valid staffing strategy, using networking 
and business development to market the organization appropriately in order to meet required BATs and 
past performance requirements, take advantage of the small bidder pools in the early phases of the program 
to understand and overcome competition in later phases, and pricing appropriately to ensure that enough 
funding from winning the contract is earned to keep the organization running but not overbidding and 
losing the contracts.  
 
The final and full strategic framework from the findings is found in the Appendix, which highlights the 
previously known ideas which were confirmed by this study, originally provided in Figure 1, combined 
with the new findings from this project. New findings included that participating on teams as a prime, sub, 
mentor-protégé, and joint venture member were all important and that developing relationships with 
contracting officers, customers and PTACS were critical incidents to successfully negotiating the middle 
phase of the program. Further, the final debriefing meeting request was an essential practice that the 
participants stated was used for both successful and unsuccessful bids in order to learn more about what 



 

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they did (or could have done) to win the bid.  

  



 

 

 

97 Business Management Research & Applications: A Cross-Disciplinary Journal 

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https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/13/124.103


 

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	Abstract
	Introduction
	Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act of the United States was designed, in part, to increase the participation of socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses in federal contracting. In 1997, the federal government assigned an annual goa...
	Background
	Studied Problem and Gap in Practice
	Research Approach
	The project employed a critical incidents technique (CIT) within a qualitative inquiry design using as participants, principals of 8aCs who had successfully maneuvered through the midphase of 8(a) competitive processes and had become a competitive bid...
	The CIT process allows for respondents to contribute numerous incidents, with the possibility of collecting hundreds or even thousands of incidents through several interviews (Flanagan, 1954). Data saturation aims to reach a point where new incidents’...
	CIT sampling strategy is different from most research techniques. Instead of a planned number of participants, sample size in a CIT project is based on the number of incidents collected (Butterfield et al., 2005), with varying numbers of incidents det...
	Research Question
	SBA’s Phases of the Program
	Whereas Figure 1 shows three phases of the 8(a) program, the SBA looks at the program as two-phased: developmental and transitional. Within these two phases, the SBA requires that 8aCs have income other than federal contracts and sets business activi...
	As part of the developmental phase, the SBA and federal regulations also provide a 7(j) program which is available to 8aCs. Bradt (2020) outlined the need for 8aCs to actively seek training in critical business development activities using the 7(j) pr...
	Literature Review
	Historically, challenges to participating in federal contracting include the costs, complexity, time factors, and past performance requirements. Orazem et al. (2017) found investment in time and resources to pursue a government contract and the requir...
	To participate in federal contracting, companies must develop separate product lines and corporate systems for marketing tactics, audits, human resource management, operational activities, and social responsibility (Josephson et al., 2019). The expens...
	Changes to size, definitions of disadvantaged, and the complex 8aC requirements also deter small businesses or lead to specific anti-competitiveness. For example, Alaska Native Corporations, NHOs, and tribes can own multiple 8aCs concurrently and an i...
	Previous researchers identified challenges and barriers experienced by firms when attempting to participate in federal contracting, but not specifically on 8aCs. Orazem et al. (2017) used a survey of startups, venture capital firms, and angel funds an...
	Existing literature did not offer 8aCs suggested solutions for reducing the identified challenges or mitigating the barriers beyond calling for changes in government regulations. The literature reviewed did not allude to the effects of the super 8aCs...
	Participant Recruitment
	Findings from the Critical Incidents Data
	Building Relationships
	The literature noted that relationship building with subcontractors was critical to the success of the bidding process and the results of the study affirmed this. In CI-25, P3 won the contract after competing against five other contractors; P3 thought...
	In CI-60, P9 indicated that the other relationships with the contracting officer and the customer had a positive impact on bidding outcomes and stated that:
	The more you get into talk and see the contracting officer, the government program managers, the site leads and get to learn their requirements and then brief your company’s capabilities and meeting the requirements, the more comfortable they are at m...
	In CI-43, P6 indicated that the onset of COVID-19 has placed a hardship on 8aCs building these relationships and stated that:
	Just individual jobs they do that around here also the same people will bid a job, just at costs below just to get on the base so they can get access to the contracting officers...A lot, and of course this is pre-COVID but pre-911 we could go talk to ...
	In CI-65, P10 bid on an IDIQ contract and had a successful bidding outcome. P10 expressed the importance of an 8aC’s relationship with the customer, saying:
	Certainly, was based on our relationships. We had been working in [the area] doing [specialized] work along with bunch of other work for [other customers], and the new [customer’s employee] came in…we got the contract because one of our clients in [th...
	Pricing
	While pricing was not part of the literature review findings, the study results showed that strategic pricing was critical toward winning awards. In CI-47, P7 bid on the contract that required a long proposal with four parts and did not win the bid. P...
	We are always skeptical on the price, and we always need help on that, and I think everybody do[sic] need help, because you don’t know what the other people bidding, they might be bidding almost 50% lower than you.
	In CI-29, P4 bid on a contract with subcontractors they knew well, and the subcontractor gave them a good price. This helped them to bid more competitively. P4 recounted,
	Having the price advantage of people who were willing to, you know, really be thoughtful, put a good price to it on every single trade involved, and then we self-performed the [type of work], which was a small percent that really gave us competitive e...
	CI-54 combined pricing with relationships: P9 bid on the opportunity with a mentor in the formal relationship under the Mentor-Protégé program. P9 was the prime, and the mentor was the subcontractor. P9 relied on the subcontractor’s knowledge of the b...
	So, we relied on one of their individuals to have knowledge about [the customer], the requirements, as well as what it would take to hire qualified people. Which, as you know, informs our pricing. So again, we relied heavily on their corporate knowled...
	Relying on the pricing of others without direct understanding can lead to a failed bidding attempt. In CI-37, P4’s bid required using a specialized subcontractor. P4’s subcontractor’s high price inflated the overall bid. Due to lack of a previous rela...
	This one was another situation…where there’s a lot of subcontractors, a lot of things were missed by the lowest bids from our subs…the [specific sub-contractor] bid with assumptions that may have been wrong and those assumptions brought the price up t...
	Proposal Presentation
	The literature review explained that understanding the proposal and bidding process is a significant barrier to 8aC success. This study validated this explanation and the barrier’s significance and provided context through the use of the critical inci...
	The SBA small business folks...that teach us how to approach it...we didn’t get more training on approaching these types of large contracts that we’re bidding on…do you fit, how do you fit in this contract…is the company capital ready to handle this t...
	In CI-49, P8 won a bid with competition from two companies for a Basic Ordering Agreement, stating,
	I don’t really feel like a whole lot put me above another contractor, other than already kind of knowing the system on how to do proposals. And knowing what the [customer] is looking for.
	P8 felt that knowing how to put together a high-quality proposal was the tipping point.
	In CI-57, P9 shared that they lost a bid despite knowing the work and the price line; a late cost submission by their partner contributed to a high price and negative outcome. P9 was the subcontractor to a primary that prepared an inadequate proposal,...
	It was right up our wheelhouse, and you know as a pretty good contract and when it came up for recompete, it…happened to be oasis contract vehicle which my company did not have...I did know a few other businesses that had the oasis contract, approache...
	Past Performance and Technical Experience
	A contractor’s technical experience and past performance on contracts are known requirements to successfully bid on contracts. Past performances are stored in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), indicating the level to whic...
	In CI-54, P9, as prime contractor, used the mentor program to bid (unsuccessfully) on an opportunity with a subcontractor mentor. P9 relied on the subcontractor’s knowledge due to P9’s lack of past performance and technical experience.
	We relied on one of their individuals to have knowledge about [the customer], the requirements, as well as what it would take to hire qualified people (P9).
	Because P9 did not have the past performance with the work for the customer, the 8aC had to rely too heavily on the mentor and came in with a price that was too high. P9 associated the unsuccessful outcome with past performance and technical expertise...
	In CI-65, P10’s past experiences led to a successful bid on an IDIQ contract:
	[Our] team had really pulled together kind of here’s what we’ve done for [the customer] here’s what we’ve done, also for [another customer]…We could give them a solution that made sense, and we already had essentially a product that we could adapt to ...
	In CI-24, a successful bid on a design-build project stemmed from past experiences and technical expertise:
	We’ve also had our project managers [who] have had experience working at the [customer location] for over 20 years…So, we were able to…check all those boxes (P3).
	P3 referred to their previous technical experiences in later comments.
	P1 reminded that past experiences only happen if you start bidding to learn.
	Because I had invested time and research, I’m going to bid. Sometimes you got a bid, so you learn.
	P3 agreed that the smaller contracts make sense to start with, for practice and learning:
	Yes, yes, because when you look at the data, it’s kind of like if you put a hockey stick sideways, you know your [years] 1-2-3-4-5 is very flat, and then it starts going up and hopefully year seven, eight, or years eight through ten it peaks a little ...
	Some other tips towards past performance include debriefing. P3 indicated:
	A lot of times if I lose a bid, we asked for the debrief. Right, you always ask for a debrief.
	Marketing, Business Development, Resourcing, and Communication
	Summary of Findings
	To create a taxonomy of practices, a critical incidents technique was used with 11 8aC principals recollected ideas and thoughts surrounding lost and won bid awards in the federal contracting system. The Johnston (2021) taxonomy was supported by relev...
	The final and full strategic framework from the findings is found in the Appendix, which highlights the previously known ideas which were confirmed by this study, originally provided in Figure 1, combined with the new findings from this project. New f...
	References


