Organizational Unit:
Acquisition Management (AM)

Type

Program

Website of the organization

https://nps.edu/web/ddm/acquisition

Full item page

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 874

Acquisition Changes-- and Challenges
(Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2010-05-13) Owen, Lieutenant General Thomas J.; Force, US Air; Acquisition Management (AM); Acquisition Research Program (ARP); Acquisition Management; Other Research Faculty
Valuation of capabilities and system architectural options to meet affordability requirement
(Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2014-03-18) Giachetti, Ronald E.; Acquisition Management (AM); Acquisition Research Program (ARP); Acquisition Management
This research addresses the problem of how to (1) value architectural options that deliver capabilities to the warfighter not inherently measured in dollar values and (2) conduct a trade study of architectural options, the option’s cost, and the option’s risk to support the affordability mandate for a more effective and efficient acquisition decision-making process. The research models acquisition as a sequential decision process with an options framework but with two significant distinctions: First, it identifies and values system architectural options available in the system design, and not options on the project, and second, it measures capabilities in terms of mission effectiveness compatible with how defense managers think. Architectural options provide flexibility to deal with technical and operational uncertainty. The research contributes to the performance of trade studies in acquisition through the definition of architectural options in terms consistent with defense acquisition (capabilities and not cash flows) and a theory for how program managers can value the capabilities those options provide. The research is intended to support the evolutionary acquisition of system capabilities. As RADM Rowden (2014), the director of Surface Warfare stated, "We cannot afford to build ships that are retired because they have been outpaced by the threat; rather, they will need to be retired because they have reached the end of their service life. Defined interfaces and modular designs will treat capability as a commodity, enabling continuous modernization to stay one step ahead of the threat. These “designed-in” features will dramatically lower the complexity of modernizing ships, reducing the time spent in overhauls, increasing operational availability, and reducing total ownership cost."
A web service implementation for large-scale automation, visualization and real-time program awareness via lexical link analysis
(Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School, 2011-04-30) Zhao, Ying; Gallup, Shelley; MacKinnon, Douglas; Acquisition Management (AM)
DoD acquisition is an extremely complex system, comprised of myriad stakeholders processes, people, activities, and organizational structures. Processes within this complex system are encumbered by the continuous development of large amounts of unstructured and unformatted acquisition program data, which is narrowly useful but difficult to aggregate across the "enterprise." Yet, acquisition analysts and decision-makers must analyze all types and spectrums of the available data to obtain a complete and understandable picture. This is a kind of systems non-congruence that has been difficult to overcome. For those embedded within the complexities of the acquisition community, this can be a daunting, if not impossible, task. We will apply a data-driven automation system, namely, Lexical Link Analysis (LLA), to facilitate acquisition researchers and decision-makers to recognize important connections (concepts) that form patterns derived from dynamic, ongoing data collection. The LLA technology and methodology is used to uncover and display relationships among competing programs and Navy-driven requirements. In the past year, we tested our method using samples of acquisition data for visualization and validity. LLA was demonstrated to discover statistically significant correlations and automatically extract the links that might require expensive manpower to perform otherwise (imagine use of many contractors, continually looking through documentation and adding excerpts to categories of interest in various spreadsheets). This year, we started to develop LLA from a demonstration to an operational capability and facilitate a wider range of acquisition research applications. If successful, the resulting system could facilitate real-time awareness reduce the workload of decision-makers, and make a profound impact on the longterm success of acquisition strategies--by revealing the current status of acquisition programs and connections within and external to contributing or competing interests as well as inform potential strategic choices available to decision-makers.
Gap Analysis: Application to Earned Value Analysis
(2008-11-01) Langford, Gary O.; Franck, Raymond (Chip); Acquisition Management (AM); Acquisition Research Program (ARP); Acquisition Management; NPS Faculty
Earned Value is regarded as a useful tool to monitor commercial and defense system acquisitions. This paper applies the theoretical foundations and systematics of Gap Analysis to improve Earned Value Management. As currently implemented, Earned Value inaccurately provides a higher value for the work performed. This preliminary research indicates that Earned Value calculations can be corrected. Value Analysis, properly defined and enacted, clarifies management strategies to facilitate appropriate investment decisions.
Issues in Cost Estimating for US Naval Shipbuilding
(2008-04-01) Deegan, Christopher S.; Acquisition Management (AM); Acquisition Research Program (ARP); Acquisition Management; Other Research Faculty
Managing the Services Supply Chain in the Department of Defense: An Empirical Study of Current Management Practices
(2008-04-01) Apte, Aruna; Apte, Uday; Rendon, Rene G.; Acquisition Management (AM); Acquisition Research Program (ARP); Acquisition Management
Services acquisition in the US Department of Defense (DoD) has continued to increase in scope and dollars in the past decade. In fact, even considering the high value of weapon systems and large military items purchased in recent years, the DoD has spent more on services than on supplies, equipment and goods (Camm, Blickstein & Venzor, 2004). The acquired services presently cover a very broad set of service activities''including professional, administrative, and management support; construction, repair, and maintenance of facilities and equipment; information technology; research and development, and medical care.
Demographics of the Army Contracting Command: An Analysis
(2009-05-01) Lamm, David; Reed, Timothy; Acquisition Management (AM); Acquisition Research Program (ARP); Acquisition Management; NPS Faculty
Gaining Leverage over Vendor Lock to Improve Acquisition Performance and Cost Efficiencies
(2014-05-13) Wydler, Virginia L.; Acquisition Management (AM); Acquisition Research Program (ARP)
Spiral Development in Major Defense Acquisition Programs
(2008-04-01) Frick, Michael S.; Acquisition Management (AM); Acquisition Research Program (ARP); Acquisition Management; Other Research Faculty
Department of Defense Field Activities as Enablers of the Defense Industrial Base for the Acquisition of Surface Navy Combat Systems
(Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2011-04-30) Woodard, H. Glenn; Lewis, Warren; Goddin, Gilbert; Schaeffer, Wendy; Acquisition Management (AM)
A key role of Department of Defense (DoD) Field Activities is to ensure the United States government is a smart buyer for its systems by translating the warfighter''s operational requirements into engineering requirements and then providing product definition and development process oversight. As the Navy transitions away from building large end-to-end, platform-unique systems toward cross-platform capabilities, the role of systems engineering working horizontally across surface ship Programs of Record (POR) has become increasingly critical. DoD Field Activities continue to focus primarily on the definition and design of capabilities needed to close warfighting gaps but with an increased emphasis on the identification of areas of commonality. Done properly, these cross-POR systems engineering efforts will increase commonality across platforms and increase the potential for competition for combat system components. Combined with a new acquisition approach, these increased competitive opportunities for a wider range of industry partners will result in reduced costs associated with providing combat systems that effectively and efficiently meet the warfighter''s needs.