Better Metrics for Better Communication as a Foundation for Better Program Buying Power

Abstract

In his Better Buying Power memo, Under Secretary of Defense Dr. Ashton Carter recommended several actions, two of which were: "Reduce the number of OSD-level reviews to those necessary to uncover and respond to significant program issues" and "Reduce non-value-added overhead imposed on industry." This intrigued me, because both actions were related to data I had recently gathered to facilitate a discussion dealing with the "program execution versus program oversight" nature of metrics, especially as related to cost estimates. To support that discussion, I interviewed people with knowledge of and experience with the metrics good program managers use. They represented many years of acquisition experience in different product domains and stakeholder perspectives. For this article, I have quoted them anonymously. Developing an effective set of metrics to be used by two organizations with differing interests establishes the context for this article's development, a shared emphasis on cost focuses that context a bit more.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA564397

Entities

People

  • Brian Brodfuehrer

Organizations

  • Defense Acquisition University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Communities
  • Cost Estimates
  • Costs
  • Environment
  • Governments
  • Human Behavior
  • Information Operations
  • Information Systems
  • Lead Time
  • Life Cycles
  • Military Acquisition
  • Program Management
  • Social Sciences
  • Standards

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Systems Analysis and Design