The Department of Homeland Security's Pursuit of Data-Driven Decision Making
Abstract
Lack of management integration is hindering the Department of Homeland Security s ability to conduct oversight and perform accurate assessments of its mission support functions. The DHS Under Secretary of Management and the Department s Management Directorate have been tasked with creating a unity of effort aimed at integrating the department s management functions via technology strategies that capture data and use it to make informed decisions. This thesis explores these strategies as the Department makes strides towards removing itself from the GAO's classification of DHS as high-risk a categorization due in part to DHS's inability to integrate the disparate management information systems in existence during its creation in 2001. The author conducted interviews with past and present senior executives in an effort to comprehensively explore the various strategies used to accomplish the goal of implementing true data-driven decision-making. The result is identification of impediments and facilitators associated with the ability to drive enterprise-wide change. These findings are then applied against a change management analytical framework, Leavitt's Diamond. Recognizing that change cannot happen in a vacuum, the findings are analyzed across the dimensions of Leavitt's Diamond to determine which strategies are most consistently aligned. Ultimately, the results of this thesis are considerations for how the Management Directorate can position and mature its technology strategies in accordance with other organizational dynamics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- ADA632267
Entities
People
- Robert C. King Iii
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School