Past performance
Past Performance
Past performance is a term used in government contracting, horse racing and mutual fund disclosure documents. In general, past performance refers to how something has performed in the past. That something could be an athlete, a business, an investment portfolio, an individual stock, a sports team, a race horse, etc.
Government Contracting
Past performance is a central element of the process used by U.S. government agencies when they evaluate companies and proposals to determine which ones will be awarded contracts. Knowledge and awareness of how past performance is evaluated are critical to successful proposals to perform government work.1
Although past performance is a natural consideration and has been used as an implied evaluation factor, this use was not formalized by the U.S. government until the 1960s through a Department of Defense past performance reporting system known as the Contractor Performance Report.2
Defining past performance as an evaluation factor distinguishes it from past performance information, or relevant information about a contractor’s actions under previously awarded contracts. In practice in the U.S. government contracting market, the term “past performance” includes three elements; 1) what work a contractor performed, 2) judgments about the breadth, depth and relevance of that experience and 3) judgments about how well the contractor performed.3
The Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (www.cpars.gov) accessible through the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (www.ppirs.gov) is the U.S. government enterprise solution for collection and retention of contractor past performance information. The main activity associated with this system is the documentation of contractor and grantee performance information that is required by federal regulations (see Federal Acquisition Regulations part 42.15). This is accomplished in web-enabled reports referred to as CPARS reports or report cards. These reports are available to U.S. government agencies making contract award decisions.
Horse Racing
Past Performances appear on horse racing programs such as the DRF (Daily Racing Form), Equibase, and Brisnet. Information on jockeys, trainers, date of races, finishes in races, speed figures, odds and more of the last 10 races are provided to give handicappers a sense of history and information to bet with. Horse racing handicappers study the past performance of each horse in a race, examining among other things the combination of speed, endurance and grit demonstrated by the animal in prior meets.4
...
Wikipedia