Defense Acquisition Reform, 1960-2009: An Elusive Goal - Softcover

Center Of Military History United States Army; Fox, J. Ronald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1505475155 ISBN 13: 9781505475159

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

Defense acquisition reform initiatives have been Department of Defense perennials over the past fifty years. Yet reforming the acquisition process remains a high priority each time a new administration comes into office. Many notable studies of defense acquisition with recommendations for changes have been published, and each has reached the same general findings with similar recommendations. However, despite the defense community’s intent to reform the acquisition process, the difficulty of the problem and the associated politics, combined with organizational dynamics that are resistant to change, have led to only minor improvements. The problems of schedule slippages, cost growth, and shortfalls in technical performance on defense acquisition programs have remained much the same throughout this period.The importance of the Department of Defense’s huge acquisition projects over the years cannot be overstressed. The United States has often turned to cutting-edge technological solutions to solve strategic and operational challenges. To highlight the importance of acquisition issues, the Department of Defense began a project in 2001 to write a history of defense acquisition from the end of World War II to the start of the twenty-first century. The U.S. Army Center of Military History served as the executive agent for that project until funding was effectively withdrawn in 2009. Two volumes of that history are nearing publication, which will take the story up to 1969. To capitalize on essential information on defense acquisition reform initiatives from the three unpublished draft volumes covering the period from 1969 to 2000, the Center decided to publish extracts from those volumes, with additional analysis by J. Ronald Fox, a subject matter expert on acquisition and an adviser to the project. Much of chapter two of this acquisition reform study was written by Walton S. Moody and David G. Allen for their draft Volume III (1969–1980) of the Defense Acquisition History Project and then edited, analyzed, and augmented by Fox. Similarly, most of chapter three was taken from Thomas C. Lassman’s draft chapters three and five of his Volume IV (1981–1990), and much of chapter four was written by Philip L. Shiman as chapter eight of his Volume V (1991–2000) of the Defense Acquisition History Project. Fox was able to take their chapters, provide additional analysis and insights, and consolidate and edit them with his own work to prepare this important volume focusing on defense acquisition reform. This volume is the result of all of their research and writing efforts and their collective insights into an incredibly complex system. Professor Fox’s Defense Acquisition Reform, 1960–2009: An Elusive Goal, provides valuable historical analysis of the numerous attempts over the past fifty years to reform the defense acquisition process for major weapons systems. It identifies important long-term trends, insights, and observations that provide perspective and context to assist current defense decision makers, acquisition officials, and the acquisition schoolhouse. It is an important work on an important subject that continues to defy solution.

About this title

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. Ronald Fox is a member of the Harvard Business School faculty where he chaired the General Management Area. His research deals with the management of large engineering and construction projects and defense acquisition. He taught courses in project management, competition and strategy, defense and aerospace marketing, and business-government relations. He holds a bachelor of science in physics, cum laude, from Le Moyne College, and a master of business administration and Ph.D. from Harvard University. Fox served as assistant secretary of the Army in which he was responsible for Army procurement, contracting, and logistics. Prior to his appointment as assistant secretary, he served as deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force. His work in these governmental positions earned him the Exceptional Civilian Service Award from the Air Force and the Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the highest decoration for public service awarded by the Department of the Army. He chaired the Board of Visitors of the Defense Acquisition University, was trustee of the Logistics Management Institute and the Aerospace Corporation, and was director of the American Society for Macro Engineering. In 2004, he was named senior adviser on acquisitions to the Defense Acquisition History Project. In 2006, he was named to the Defense Acquisition University Hall of Fame.

He is the author of several books, including Arming America: How the U.S. Buys Weapons (1974); Managing Business-Government Relations (1982); The Defense Management Challenge: Weapons Acquisition (1988); Critical Issues in the Defense Acquisition Culture (1994); and Challenges in Managing Large Projects (2006). 

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1505475155
• ISBN 13: 9781505475159
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 286