Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.22594/dau.22-900.30.03
Zachary Ryan, Mark Reith, Clay Koschnick
Over the past 5 years, the number of DoD software organizations that employ nontraditional organizational structures has increased. These organizations, commonly referred to as software factories, often employ the network-based organizational structures found within high-technology industries. This article details ways in which network analysis techniques can be used to create a big picture view of these nontraditional organizations. Drawing on methodologies employed by network researchers, the authors develop and present an interorganizational analysis process that highlights a program's social and economic structures. Following the case history approach, they demonstrate the applicability of this approach by analyzing an emergent DoD software factory. Throughout the article, the authors discuss how network principles and accessible analysis techniques can be applied to real-world challenges faced by modern, network-based DoD organizations. Finally, they conclude by presenting the results of their analysis and a framework that the acquisition community can use to analyze nontraditional programs.
{"title":"Deconstructing the Software Factory: A Practical Application of Interorganizational Network Analysis","authors":"Zachary Ryan, Mark Reith, Clay Koschnick","doi":"10.22594/dau.22-900.30.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22594/dau.22-900.30.03","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past 5 years, the number of DoD software organizations that employ nontraditional organizational structures has increased. These organizations, commonly referred to as software factories, often employ the network-based organizational structures found within high-technology industries. This article details ways in which network analysis techniques can be used to create a big picture view of these nontraditional organizations. Drawing on methodologies employed by network researchers, the authors develop and present an interorganizational analysis process that highlights a program's social and economic structures. Following the case history approach, they demonstrate the applicability of this approach by analyzing an emergent DoD software factory. Throughout the article, the authors discuss how network principles and accessible analysis techniques can be applied to real-world challenges faced by modern, network-based DoD organizations. Finally, they conclude by presenting the results of their analysis and a framework that the acquisition community can use to analyze nontraditional programs.","PeriodicalId":92996,"journal":{"name":"Defense acquisition research journal","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.22594/dau.23-910.30.03
David Christensen
Program managers are advocates by necessity. When taken to the extreme, program advocacy can result in the suppression of adverse information about the status of a program. Such was the case in the Navy’s A-12 program. In “A-12 Administrative Inquiry,” Beach (1990) speculates that such “abiding cultural problems” were not unique to the Navy. To test that assertion, this article examines cost overrun data on 64 completed acquisition contracts extracted from the Defense Acquisition Executive Summary database. Cost overruns at various contract completion points are compared with projected final cost overruns estimated by contractor and government personnel. The comparison shows that the overruns projected by the contractor and government were excessively optimistic throughout the lives of the contracts examined. These results were found insensitive to contract type (cost, price), contract phase (development, production), the type of weapon system (air, ground, sea), and the military service (Air Force, Army, Navy) that managed the contract.
{"title":"Cost Overrun Optimism: Fact of Fiction?","authors":"David Christensen","doi":"10.22594/dau.23-910.30.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22594/dau.23-910.30.03","url":null,"abstract":"Program managers are advocates by necessity. When taken to the extreme, program advocacy can result in the suppression of adverse information about the status of a program. Such was the case in the Navy’s A-12 program. In “A-12 Administrative Inquiry,” Beach (1990) speculates that such “abiding cultural problems” were not unique to the Navy. To test that assertion, this article examines cost overrun data on 64 completed acquisition contracts extracted from the Defense Acquisition Executive Summary database. Cost overruns at various contract completion points are compared with projected final cost overruns estimated by contractor and government personnel. The comparison shows that the overruns projected by the contractor and government were excessively optimistic throughout the lives of the contracts examined. These results were found insensitive to contract type (cost, price), contract phase (development, production), the type of weapon system (air, ground, sea), and the military service (Air Force, Army, Navy) that managed the contract.","PeriodicalId":92996,"journal":{"name":"Defense acquisition research journal","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.22594/dau.23-903.30.03
Matthew Chellin, Erika Miller
This article explores mental models on obsolescence management to assist with mitigating obsolescence for Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems. A systems-thinking methodology was used to develop these mental models, which were validated through interviews with 10 participants. The participants were U.S. Army acquisition practitioners at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. This research complements the tools and training for mitigating obsolescence by deepening an organization’s understanding of the relationships among systems and the mental models that influence obsolescence management. These mental models are foundational to the interaction relationships of the system of interest (Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages, or DMSMS Management System) within the context of engineered systems. This is enabled by supporting systems such as the supply chain, configuration management, and the budget. Furthermore, this research presents a novel model of the systems within the obsolescence management system. Based on the relationships in the causal loop diagrams and application of a risk-based proactive obsolescence management mental model, one can predict a higher or lower likelihood of successfully mitigating a C5ISR system’s obsolescence.
{"title":"Frustrated with Obsolescence — Try Changing Your Mental Model","authors":"Matthew Chellin, Erika Miller","doi":"10.22594/dau.23-903.30.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22594/dau.23-903.30.03","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores mental models on obsolescence management to assist with mitigating obsolescence for Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems. A systems-thinking methodology was used to develop these mental models, which were validated through interviews with 10 participants. The participants were U.S. Army acquisition practitioners at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. This research complements the tools and training for mitigating obsolescence by deepening an organization’s understanding of the relationships among systems and the mental models that influence obsolescence management. These mental models are foundational to the interaction relationships of the system of interest (Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages, or DMSMS Management System) within the context of engineered systems. This is enabled by supporting systems such as the supply chain, configuration management, and the budget. Furthermore, this research presents a novel model of the systems within the obsolescence management system. Based on the relationships in the causal loop diagrams and application of a risk-based proactive obsolescence management mental model, one can predict a higher or lower likelihood of successfully mitigating a C5ISR system’s obsolescence.","PeriodicalId":92996,"journal":{"name":"Defense acquisition research journal","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135809360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-01DOI: 10.22594/dau.22-894.30.02
Sammantha Jones, Edward White, Jonathan Ritschel, Shawn Valentine
The authors use both descriptive and inferential techniques to investigate average and standard deviation trends in cost estimates for major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs) grouped into decades from the 1970s to 2010s. For total program-cost-growth factors (CGFs), the 2010s exhibited lower CGFs compared to the 1990s. For the program-acquisition-unit cost (PAUC) CGFs, the 2010s appear lower than the 1990s and borderline lower than the 1970s. A statistically significant decreasing trend in the standard deviations of total program CGFs throughout the decades was identified. This lowering variability trend also appeared for PAUC CGFs from the 1980s onward. This finding appears to be the first documented case known to us. This decreasing variability of cost estimates suggests to us that cost estimating and/or the process behind it might be improving over time.
{"title":"Cost Estimation Trends for Major Defense Acquisition Programs","authors":"Sammantha Jones, Edward White, Jonathan Ritschel, Shawn Valentine","doi":"10.22594/dau.22-894.30.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22594/dau.22-894.30.02","url":null,"abstract":"The authors use both descriptive and inferential techniques to investigate average and standard deviation trends in cost estimates for major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs) grouped into decades from the 1970s to 2010s. For total program-cost-growth factors (CGFs), the 2010s exhibited lower CGFs compared to the 1990s. For the program-acquisition-unit cost (PAUC) CGFs, the 2010s appear lower than the 1990s and borderline lower than the 1970s. A statistically significant decreasing trend in the standard deviations of total program CGFs throughout the decades was identified. This lowering variability trend also appeared for PAUC CGFs from the 1980s onward. This finding appears to be the first documented case known to us. This decreasing variability of cost estimates suggests to us that cost estimating and/or the process behind it might be improving over time.","PeriodicalId":92996,"journal":{"name":"Defense acquisition research journal","volume":"117 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135855885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-01DOI: 10.22594/dau.23-902.30.02
Jennifer Elkins
The Department of Defense has long focused on reform for increased performance, decreased cost, and decreased schedule. The author investigated the differences between those within the acquisition contracting community exercising the new authorities provided in the Adaptive Acquisition Framework and those operating in a traditional acquisition environment through qualitative comparative analysis surrounding the characteristics of bureaucracy. Using the established framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior, the author evaluated interview responses to gain a deeper understanding of participants’ lived experiences, thereby discovering those attitudes, perceived behavioral controls, and social pressures most prevalent and influential in evaluating behavior for the two types of organizations. Results indicated significant differences between the two types of organizations, with a strong alignment of traditional contracting organizations with the characteristics of bureaucracy and practical implications for leaders seeking to drive innovation within their organizations.
{"title":"A Tale of Two Organizations: A Qualitative Comparative Study of Contracting Organizations","authors":"Jennifer Elkins","doi":"10.22594/dau.23-902.30.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22594/dau.23-902.30.02","url":null,"abstract":"The Department of Defense has long focused on reform for increased performance, decreased cost, and decreased schedule. The author investigated the differences between those within the acquisition contracting community exercising the new authorities provided in the Adaptive Acquisition Framework and those operating in a traditional acquisition environment through qualitative comparative analysis surrounding the characteristics of bureaucracy. Using the established framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior, the author evaluated interview responses to gain a deeper understanding of participants’ lived experiences, thereby discovering those attitudes, perceived behavioral controls, and social pressures most prevalent and influential in evaluating behavior for the two types of organizations. Results indicated significant differences between the two types of organizations, with a strong alignment of traditional contracting organizations with the characteristics of bureaucracy and practical implications for leaders seeking to drive innovation within their organizations.","PeriodicalId":92996,"journal":{"name":"Defense acquisition research journal","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135855887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-01DOI: 10.22594/dau.22-896.30.02
Richard Kendall, Nathan Hariharan, David Sears, Douglass Post
A growing number of articles describe the challenges of adopting DevOps for DoD software development. A recent paper in this journal discussed DevOps adoption challenges within the acquisition programs of the Navy. For embedded software, these challenges have been overwhelming to date. However, for standalone applications, the story is different, even though the lingering impact of DoD Instruction 5000 and other DoD cultural practices remains problematic. The HPCMP CREATE™ program, or simply CREATE in this paper, is part of the portfolio of the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP). It has successfully adapted DevOps concepts and agile software development practices to develop a family of software applications that enable system-scale virtual prototyping and testing analysis for major DoD acquisition programs. This study describes the main enabling practices that made this possible.
{"title":"Successful Adoption of DevOps Practices in Software Development in DoD Acquisition Programs—The CREATE Example","authors":"Richard Kendall, Nathan Hariharan, David Sears, Douglass Post","doi":"10.22594/dau.22-896.30.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22594/dau.22-896.30.02","url":null,"abstract":"A growing number of articles describe the challenges of adopting DevOps for DoD software development. A recent paper in this journal discussed DevOps adoption challenges within the acquisition programs of the Navy. For embedded software, these challenges have been overwhelming to date. However, for standalone applications, the story is different, even though the lingering impact of DoD Instruction 5000 and other DoD cultural practices remains problematic. The HPCMP CREATE™ program, or simply CREATE in this paper, is part of the portfolio of the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP). It has successfully adapted DevOps concepts and agile software development practices to develop a family of software applications that enable system-scale virtual prototyping and testing analysis for major DoD acquisition programs. This study describes the main enabling practices that made this possible.","PeriodicalId":92996,"journal":{"name":"Defense acquisition research journal","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135856120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-01-01DOI: 10.22594/dau.16-770.25.01
Debra L Emmons, Thomas A Mazzuchi, Shahram Sarkani, Curtis E Larsen
This research contributes an operational checklist for mitigating cognitive biases in the aerospace sector risk management process. The Risk Identification and Evaluation Bias Reduction Checklist includes steps for grounding the risk identification and evaluation activities in past project experiences through historical data, and emphasizes the importance of incorporating multiple methods and perspectives to guard against optimism and a singular project instantiation-focused view. The authors developed a survey to elicit subject matter expert judgment on the value of the checklist to support its use in government and industry as a risk management tool. The survey also provided insights on bias mitigation strategies and lessons learned. This checklist addresses the deficiency in the literature in providing operational steps for the practitioner to recognize and implement strategies for bias reduction in risk management in the aerospace sector.
{"title":"MITIGATING COGNITIVE BIASES IN RISK IDENTIFICATION: Practitioner Checklist for the AEROSPACE SECTOR.","authors":"Debra L Emmons, Thomas A Mazzuchi, Shahram Sarkani, Curtis E Larsen","doi":"10.22594/dau.16-770.25.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22594/dau.16-770.25.01","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This research contributes an operational checklist for mitigating cognitive biases in the aerospace sector risk management process. The <i>Risk Identification and Evaluation Bias Reduction Checklist</i> includes steps for grounding the risk identification and evaluation activities in past project experiences through historical data, and emphasizes the importance of incorporating multiple methods and perspectives to guard against optimism and a singular project instantiation-focused view. The authors developed a survey to elicit subject matter expert judgment on the value of the checklist to support its use in government and industry as a risk management tool. The survey also provided insights on bias mitigation strategies and lessons learned. This checklist addresses the deficiency in the literature in providing operational steps for the practitioner to recognize and implement strategies for bias reduction in risk management in the aerospace sector.</p>","PeriodicalId":92996,"journal":{"name":"Defense acquisition research journal","volume":"25 1","pages":"52-93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7398041/pdf/nihms-1533496.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"38222828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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