Understanding How Program Managers Successfully Manage Innovation in Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs): An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Senior DoD leadership, under the banner of acquisition reform, seek change in the acquisition process and within acquisition programs to reduce program cycle-time and total ownership cost. Key to achieving acquisition reform is the program manager (PM). PMs are tasked with the overall responsibility for their program's cost schedule and performance goals. The DoD 5000 Series encourages PMs to, "continually search for innovative practices that reduce cycle-time, reduce cost, and encourage team-work", yet little is contained in the DoD 5000 Series or any other acquisition documents to assist the PM in understanding or achieving innovation. In this exploratory study, the author chose five previous PMs known for successful innovation and interviewed them about their innovations. In an effort to aid future PMs, interview data are compared and analyzed to produce preliminary acquisition innovation "best practices".

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA389412

Entities

People

  • Benjamin P. Stinson

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aerial Warfare
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Birds
  • Computer Programs
  • Contracts
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Military Acquisition
  • Public Policy
  • Students
  • Systems Engineering
  • Systems Management
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management