Defense Acquisitions: Department of Defense Actions on Program Manager Empowerment and Accountability

Abstract

As part of DOD's strategy to enhance the role of program managers in carrying out its major weapon system acquisitions, the department has established a policy that requires formal agreements among program managers, their acquisition executives, and the user community intended to set forth common program goals. In addition, as part of a new strategy for program manager empowerment and accountability, DOD plans a variety of actions to enhance development opportunities, provide more incentives, and arrange knowledge-sharing opportunities. For example, DOD intends to increase just-in-time training, establish a formal mentoring program, and establish program management forums. The department also acknowledges that any actions taken to improve accountability must be based on a foundation whereby program managers can launch and manage programs toward greater performance, rather than focusing on maintaining support and funding for individual programs. This foundation should include an overarching strategy and decision-making processes that prioritize programs based on a balanced match between customer needs and available department resources. Within its strategy and other reports, DOD has highlighted several initiatives that, if adopted and implemented properly, could provide such a foundation. For example, the new Concept Decision Point initiative, guidance for Time-Defined Acquisitions, and the establishment of Configuration Steering Boards are all designed to enable more informed decisions by key department leaders well ahead of a program s start, decisions that provide a closer match between each program's requirements and the department s resources. DOD acquisition leaders stated that any improvements to program managers

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 09, 2007
Accession Number
ADA474045

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accountability
  • Acquisition
  • Best Practices
  • Business Administration
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Governments
  • Knowledge Management
  • Military Acquisition
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Program Management
  • Systems Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).