Doesn't the point still stand? If they want 100% of the money (instead of 80% or whatever), they could get it by hiring minorities into their team (hell, higher the guy doing the subcontracting as a "business developer"!).
Some people have commented in other threads that just subcontracting can get you into a lot of trouble if caught though.
If you think the point is to help minority businesspeople, then no.
The legit business people who aren't just patsies often get screwed by these arrangements. They end up holding a massive short term liability that the big contractor (IBM, Oracle, EDS, etc) wants paid NOW, but the receivable is mired in some crazy 120 day late pay hell with the government.
If we want to hire minorities to improve their lot, just hire them. Or require actual bids on contracts that a small business person can grok instead of blanket purchase arrangements that require Fortune 50 sized legal/contract teams to bid on.
Of course, if the point is to generate extra income for the spouses of corporate execs and campaign contributions, than sure, these programs are uber successful.
"Or require actual bids on contracts that a small business person can grok instead of blanket purchase arrangements that require Fortune 50 sized legal/contract teams to bid on."
At the local level, at least in the Pacific Northwest, this is exactly what happens. Local agencies have targets of anywhere from 15-30%, for how much they'd like to spend directly on contract dollars awarded to minority-owned/woman-owned firms.
Most are hitting between 5-15% now, but I'd say probably 4 out of 5 purchasing managers wants to do better and actively encourages their staff to do outreach to the minority/woman-owned small business communities.
Some people have commented in other threads that just subcontracting can get you into a lot of trouble if caught though.