Industry Perceptions of Department of Defense Program Manager Competencies

Abstract

Large, complex Defense Department weapons system acquisition programs have been plagued by cost overruns, delayed schedules, and subpar performance. Much of the blame has been placed on government program managers (PMs). This study provides a new perspective on government PM competencies by surveying defense industry managers who work with the government PMs on a day-to-day basis. 146 industry managers rated the importance of PM competencies and assessed how well, from their perspective, their government PM counterparts met those competencies. The data gathered from this survey revealed several surprising insights, including a conclusion that government program managers' performance on several key technical skills may need improvement. The results of this study may be useful in updating training and development strategies for government PMs to improve program outcomes.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA530138

Entities

People

  • Roy L. Wood Jr.

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Business Administration
  • Contracts
  • Defense Industry
  • Department Of Defense
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Knowledge Management
  • Logistics
  • Management Personnel
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Program Management
  • Project Management
  • Systems Management
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training

Readers

  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).