Evaluation of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Cost and Performance Measurement

Abstract

This thesis examines the Cost and Performance Measurements within four Program Directorates at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). SPAWAR is the Navy's full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support center for Command, Control and Communications Systems, Ocean Surveillance Systems and the integration of those systems that overarch multiplatforms. In the era of lean military budgets, public and congressional demands for improved performance within government and performance based budgeting, Commands must justify their budgets and resource allocation relating to costs and outputs. How can commands determine the efficiency of their organizations without accurate cost and output measurement? The primary focus of this thesis is to describe the cost and performance measurement systems applied in the SPAWAR Program Directorates to determine what types of cost, scheduling and performance information they provide for the command. This was accomplished by conducting personal interviews of SPAWAR personnel and reviewing official SPAWAR records. The components of the Program Directorates, the Program Manager Warfare use a wide variety of locally designed computer programs and tracking systems to measure cost, scheduling and performance. This thesis forms a foundation for further analysis on cost and performance measurement in SPAWAR.