Changing Air Force Culture: An Analysis of the New Air Force Inspection System Implementation Strategy
Abstract
Over the course of several decades, the Air Force Inspector General and other Air Force senior leaders determined that the increasing number of inspections being conducted on Air Force units had created an unsustainable burden in terms of both time and resources. Additionally, the quality of the data from these inspections did not provide senior leaders with an accurate assessment of the readiness, discipline, efficiency, and economy of the Air Force. As a result, they created an Inspection System Improvement Tiger Team to develop potential solutions, and, on 17 June 2013, the secretary of the Air Force signed Headquarters United States Air Force Program Action Directive 13-01, Implementation of the Secretary of the United States Air Force Direction to Implement a New Air Force Inspection System.The changes brought about by the new AFIS affected Airmen at every level and were intended to transform Air Force culture; however, based on available Air Force guidance, it was not immediately apparent whether a reputable change management process had been used to create the new AFIS implementation strategy. Therefore, an exploratory case study framework and qualitative analysis was used to conduct a step-by-step comparison of John P. Kotter's eight-stage process of creating major change to the actions directed and taken by Air Force leaders before and during the implementation of the new AFIS. The analysis revealed that all eight steps from Kotter's model had been addressed, though not all eight steps had reached completion. Additionally, some recommend improvement areas were identified to assist Air Force leaders with future major change initiatives.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1054623
Entities
People
- Brian A Craft
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College