An Experiment of the Risk Behavior of the DoD Workforce

Abstract

This research project examines the behavior of the Department of Defense (DoD) workforce hypothesis regarding risk management in weapon system development. Two experiments were conducted to understand how the workforce approaches risk management. Many DoD programs fall behind and suffer a cost increase and schedule delay. A recent Government Accountability Office report stated, The total cost of DoD s 2011 portfolio of major defense acquisition programs has grown by 5 percent, in the last year. (GAO, 2012, p. 6) In addition, when compared to a program s initial plans, the cost increase is much larger: When measured from their first full estimates, the growth in total acquisition cost for these programs is 40 percent. (GAO, 2012, p. 6) Risk management is an important engineering tool for minimizing the impact of technical problems of a program. More effective risk management will lead to better managed programs. The purpose of this study is to better understand the DoD workforce s attitude towards risk management and risk mitigation. Findings of the study will aid in improving training on risk management in order to improve the overall performance of weapon system programs.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 24, 2012
Accession Number
ADA584655

Entities

People

  • Donald Mckeon

Organizations

  • Defense Acquisition University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Business Administration
  • Contracts
  • Engineering
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Logistics
  • Military Acquisition
  • Organizational Structure
  • Risk
  • Risk Analysis
  • Risk Management
  • Systems Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training
  • Weapon Systems

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Government Contracting/Procurement.