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Defense Acquisition Review Journal. Volume 17, Number 2, Issue 54. Achieving Excellence in a Changing Acquisition Environment
Abstract and Figures
Welcome to this very special commemorative issue of the Defense Acquisition Review Journal (ARJ). In 2008, the Defense Acquisition University Alumni Association (DAUAA), along with the DAU Research Department, initiated the annual DAUAA 2010 Research Paper Competition for the DoD acquisition community, including all members of the Defense Acquisition Workforce, the DAU faculty, and the entire commercial defense industry. In 2010, the DAUAA Research Paper Competition was completed for the third consecutive year, and winners will be recognized at the DAU Acquisition Community Symposium on April 13, 2010. The theme for research papers in the 2010 competition is "Achieving Excellence in a Changing Acquisition Environment." The top three papers will receive the Hirsch Award and cash prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250 respectively. A panel of subject matter experts reviewed all submitted research papers and selected the top three winners. This research paper competition results from a special relationship between the DAUAA, the DAU Research Department, and the ARJ. I am extremely pleased and proud to publish the three winning papers for the third annual DAUAA 2010 Research Paper Competition in this issue of the ARJ, along with four other outstanding papers that were nominated for awards. The theme for the 2010 competition was very broad, and you will see many diverse topics in this issue. A total of seven papers was selected for publication in this issue.
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This report documents and, to the degree possible, quantifies the benefits of human factors integration (HFI) effort to selected Army programs. Four Army weapon systems were identified for documenting HFI lessons learned and quantitative benefits. These systems are two aviation systems, Comanche and Apache; one nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) reconnaissance vehicle, Fox; and the Army's advanced howitzer program, Crusader. The Comanche aircraft provides the most comprehensive lessons learned for HFI, based on its application of the Army's manpower and personnel integration (MANPRINT) program from its inception. The Apache helicopter provides some quantitative examples of benefits from HFI applications on design and development of changes to a system already in the Army inventory. The Fox reconnaissance vehicle (XM93E1 NBC) demonstrates quantitative benefits and lessons learned from HFI applications on a non-major system. The Crusader was chosen because it illustrates the critical role played by HFI technologies in conducting realistic battlefield scenarios in war games. Attention is given to the effects of HFI in five major areas: (1) The acquisition process; (2) System design and development; (3) Operational performance and testing; (4) Cost avoidance, and (5) Safety benefits.
Human Systems Integration (HSI) is the collection of interdisciplinary technical and management processes for integrating human considerations within and across all system elements. This discipline seeks to treat humans as equally important to system design as are other system elements, such as hardware and software. HSI has been defined by many stakeholders, particularly government agencies that advocate the "total system" approach, which incorporates humans, technology, the operational context, and the necessary interfaces between. HSI considerations include the following nine domains: manpower, personnel, training, human factors engineering, environment, safety, occupational health, habitability, and survivability. This paper introduces one area of a larger research project, sponsored by the U.S Air Force, which seeks to develop an approach for determining what percentage of the overall systems engineering activity should be allocated to HSI in order to effectively consider these nine domains as part of the overall systems engineering effort. We describe previous relevant work, including a case study of our own, related to the development of "HSI Size" as a function of HSI Requirements, and discuss how those requirements can be integrated into a parametric cost estimation model. 1 Introduction Humans are critical to the success at every stage of the life cycle of complex systems. In the defense industry, Human Systems Integration (HSI) is a comprehensive management and technical approach for addressing the human element in weapon system development and acquisition. By taking into account the interests of designers, operators, maintainers and other human stakeholders, HSI can improve system performance and minimize ownership costs. Published case studies and best practices have highlighted the benefits of successful HSI, particularly when HSI is incorporated with other systems engineering activities early in the acquisition process [1] [2]. The work presented in this paper is part of a project to better understand how HSI fits into the larger systems engineering picture. Because HSI is most effective when it is integrated as part of early systems engineering, it can be difficult to generate an accurate estimate of HSI costs and return on investment without taking into account total systems engineering effort. We propose that the cost of HSI can be estimated as a function of the total cost of systems engineering. Additionally, we propose that our understanding of HSI's impact on systems engineering would be furthered by a better appreciation for HSI's impact on the number and complexity of system requirements. We look to a variety of sources to support our conclusions.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to examine the interaction effects of managers' perceptions of the supporting vision clarity, appropriateness, and execution of a major organizational change on their job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intentions, and role ambiguity.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from upper and middle‐level managers of a Fortune 500 US manufacturer and maker of consumer goods involved in a large organizational change initiative. A survey was completed by 217 managers, for a response rate of 89 percent. Change attitudes, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intentions, role ambiguity, and control variables were all assessed.
Findings
A three‐way interaction between change vision clarity, change appropriateness, and change execution was found to predict managers' job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and role ambiguity.
Research limitations/implications
The study relied on self‐reports collected at one point in time, allowing for the possibility of common method bias. The complex, nonlinear relationships indicate that method bias cannot fully account for the reported relationships.
Practical implications
Study results illustrate that the individual experience of major change is multifaceted and that simultaneously considering the combined effects of individual's change attitudes including readiness (in the form of believing a change is needed and appropriate) and the perceived effectiveness of the change execution on key job‐related outcomes can help practitioners understand more fully the implications of organizational change.
Originality/value
The findings lend support to the notion that individual's sentiments concerning organizational change are interactive and should not be ignored.
Purpose
– Aims to explore the relationship between employee perceptions of servant leadership and leader trust, as well as organizational trust.
Design/methodology.approach
– Uses Laub's Organizational Leadership Assessment along with Nyhan and Marlowe's Organizational Trust Inventory.
Findings
– Perceptions of servant leadership correlated positively with both leader trust and organizational trust. The study also found that organizations perceived as servant‐led exhibited higher levels of both leader trust and organizational trust than organizations perceived as non‐servant‐led.
Originality/value
– The findings lend support to Greenleaf's view that servant leadership is an antecedent of leader and organizational trust, and to aspects of other servant leadership models.
The rapidly changing complexity of the Global War on Terrorism has changed the approach to equipping forward-deployed military forces. Combatant Commanders conducting operations now require timely materiel solutions to enhance mission capabilities and reduce the risk for individual soldiers. To address this challenge, the US Army established the Rapid Equipping Force to assess emerging requirements, to propose solutions to those requirements, and to implement those solutions in an expedient time frame. Unfortunately, the REF lacks a consistent analytical methodology for assessing alternative materiel solutions. To address the need for a human systems integration (HSI) analysis method, the authors developed an Assessment-Based Rapid Acquisition HSI Analysis Method (ABRAHAM) capable of generating tailored surveys and evaluating these surveys for unacceptable risks to soldiers. To validate ABRAHAM's concept and content, ABRAHAM was showcased in three Department of Defense settings: the Human Factors Engineering Technical Advisory Group, the REF, and the US Marine Corps' Operational Test and Evaluation Activity. The ABRAHAM appears to fill a gap in the current library of HSI tools. Based on the feedback provided during the product showcases, there is sufficient interest and technological maturity to further develop ABRAHAM to serve both the traditional and rapid acquisition processes.
CRS report for Congress: F-22A Raptor
- C Bolkcom
Bolkcom, C. (2007). CRS report for Congress: F-22A Raptor. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service