Calling on Mission Assistance
Abstract
At the Defense Acquisition University, we spend a lot of time with incoming program managers (PMs) as they attend their courses, and help them plan strategies for achieving their acquisition goals. What s not as well known is that we also spend a lot of time in the workplace with PMs and their program teams, collaborating with them to solve issues and to capitalize on opportunities. Based on that experience, we would like to share some of the insights we ve gained from these collaborations. We ll start with a short laydown of one of our core program assist tools, the Acquisition Program Transition Workshop (APTW), and follow that with insights gained from APTWs and other interactions. So why do we need a transition workshop? It started with a joint Raytheon and DAU effort aimed at addressing how to tailor a new contract startup for an increased probability of success. How well a contract startup is conducted is an accurate indicator of how well the contract will execute. The DAU-Raytheon team took a proven Raytheon program startup process, and then adapted it for general DoD use. After successfully piloting the APTW process, the APTW team was joined in a fine-tuning process by Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Harris, and Northrop Grumman. Ultimately, Dr. Ashton Carter then under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics signed a Directive Type Memorandum (April 1, 2011) strongly recommending APTWs for new program and contract starts, as well as for managing change in programs and their contracts as they proceed through the acquisition life cycle.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA608720
Entities
People
- Jesse Stewart
- John Higbee
Organizations
- Defense Acquisition University