Does the Program Manager Matter? New Public Management and Defense Acquisition

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Authors
Eckerd, Adam
Snider, Keith
Subjects
defense acquisition
New Public Management
program manager
institutionalism
Advisors
Date of Issue
2017
Date
Publisher
SAGE
Language
Abstract
Past efforts to reform defense acquisition have been based in New Public Management assumptions that certain attributes of program managers (PMs), such as their training and experience levels, are important for improving outcomes. This article documents an effort to examine the relationship between such PM attributes and program outcomes using data drawn from annual Department of Defense Selected Acquisition Reports for major defense acquisition programs between 1997 and 2010. The findings provide little support for these assumptions. They point instead to the potential for institutionalist theories to explain acquisition outcomes, which can enable more nuanced reform policies in the future.
Type
Article
Description
The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074015596376
Series/Report No
Department
Business & Public Policy (GSBPP)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
22 p.
Citation
Eckerd, Adam, and Keith Snider. "Does the program manager matter? New Public Management and defense acquisition." The American Review of Public Administration 47.1 (2017): 36-57.
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.
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