Project management for the production phase of system acquisition

Abstract

Military project management for the production phase of system acquisition is discussed. A management framework based on analysis of five principles—planning , organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling—is constructed. Organization alternatives for production management are proposed to the Aegis Weapon System Project Manager, who sponsored this research. The results of this analysis indicate that when a project manager's background is categorized as being operational, administrative or technical, significant conclusions can be drawn concerning the characteristics of the project manager best suited to manage the production phase and the structure of his production organization. Investigation also revealed that the primary functions of military project organizations in the Production phase of system acquisition are: Business Management, Systems Engineering, Production Control, Quality and Testing, and Fleet Support. Departmentation along these functional lines during the Production phase of system acquisition appears to reflect the economic division of work in the military project organization.