A Conceptual Model of the Department of Defense Major System Acquisition Process

Abstract

The Department of Defense's weapon system acquisition process has come under increasing scrutiny by Congress in the last two decades because of increased cost and inadequate performance of its new weapon systems. Many studies have been made on specific aspects of the acquisition process to improve acquisition strategies. As a result, constant changes have been made in the process in an attempt to eliminate problems. However, none of the changes have significantly improved the process. The problem of developing and implementing effective solutions to the acquisition process appear to stem not from valid research but from a lack of understanding of the total system and the environment in which the process operates. The Federal Procurement Institute expressed the desire for a model that would depict the contextual setting of the acquisition process to aid in formulating changes to the process using current research and in directing future research. The authors present a conceptual model of the DoD acquisition process that incorporates the contextual setting of the process, describes the major interactive factors, and captures the influences of these factors on each other as well as on the entire process.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1978
Accession Number
ADA059183

Entities

People

  • Damond L. Osterhus
  • Diann Lawson

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Budgets
  • Business Administration
  • Closed Loop Systems
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Management Personnel
  • Manufacturing
  • National Governments
  • Organizational Structure
  • Procurement
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Weapon Systems

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Systems Analysis and Design