A Dynamic Model of the Work Force at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
Abstract
Outsourcing entered the lexicon during the 1980s and today is a standard practice in the Department of Defense. Contractors are now filling jobs that traditionally have been held by government employees. As yearly budgets change, the decision to outsource or not outsource government jobs has placed a significant burden on project managers. This thesis focuses on the dynamic modeling of a work force labor mix consisting of civilian and contractor workers. It gives the government manager a tool to determine the optimum work force numbers for a given work load demand. It is envisioned that local managers will be able to use this study to make a more balanced and informed decision when hiring civilian and contract workers. The work force at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) consists of civilian and contractor workers, each of which are governed by separate policies making work force forecasts more difficult. The objective of this thesis was to develop a computer simulation to find the most acceptable fiscal labor mix for NAWCWD that would minimize labor costs while preventing drastic management actions such as a reduction in force or serious cost overruns due to an overly large, underemployed workforce. The study identified the parameters that management could most influence to change the work force labor mix: acceptance of work rate, rate of successful hires, and rate of separation for both civilian and contract workers. The results clearly show that parameters such as rate of separation and rate of successful hires and acceptance of work have a significant impact on the dynamics of the work force labor mix. Managers' response to hiring and attrition can be adjusted to effect changes on the system.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA488848
Entities
People
- William H. Spearow
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School