Analysis of How the Work Breakdown Structure Can Facilitate Acquisition Reform Initiatives

Analysis of How the Work Breakdown Structure Can Facilitate Acquisition Reform Initiatives
Author: Robert L. Thomas
Publisher:
Total Pages: 179
Release: 1999-12
Genre:
ISBN: 9781423539476

Program Managers (PMs) need insight into the high-risk and high-cost elements of their programs to effectively manage them. The Department of Defense (DoD) has adopted several acquisition reform initiatives in order to become a smarter, more efficient, and more responsive buyer of goods and services that meet our warfighter's needs. DoD 5000.2-R Regulation requires PMs to tailor a work breakdown structure (WBS) for each program using the guidance in Military- Handbook-881 (MIL-HDBK-881), "DoD Handbook Work Breakdown Structure". This research concludes that a WBS structured in accordance with MIL-HDB-881 can significantly impede implementation of DoD acquisition reform initiatives. It does not adequately identify the key products and processes essential for program success. An alternate method of constructing a WBS was developed which better identifies and differentiates key products and processes. This research concludes that the alternate WBS has the potential to significantly facilitate implementation of recent DoD acquisition reform initiatives, as well as the potential to provide PMs greater visibility and early identification of cost, schedule, performance, and risk issues using an Earned Value Management System (EVMS).

The Work Breakdown Structure in an Acquisition Reform Environment

The Work Breakdown Structure in an Acquisition Reform Environment
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1997
Genre:
ISBN:

These viewgraphs discuss acquisition reform, costs, provide a definition for work breakdown structure, development process of work breakdown, an overview of contract business management, a GAO review, issues in work breakdown structure development, and the relationship with contractor management systems.

An Analysis of the Implementation of Acquisition Reform Initiatives and Contract Cost Variance

An Analysis of the Implementation of Acquisition Reform Initiatives and Contract Cost Variance
Author: Mark A. Holbrook
Publisher:
Total Pages: 127
Release: 2003-03-01
Genre: Contracts
ISBN: 9781423503583

This thesis examines the impact of acquisition reform initiatives implemented since 1993 on contract cost performance. Many initiatives implemented during the 1990s focused on saving the government money in procuring weapon systems. For decades, cost overruns have plagued Department of Defense weapons systems development and procurement costing the government money. The passage of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994 and the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, marked significant congressional action on aiding the Department of Defense develop and procure systems cheaper. Conclusions drawn in this thesis may aid leadership in supporting current initiatives and drafting new changes.

The Structuring of Organizations

The Structuring of Organizations
Author: Henry Mintzberg
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre:
ISBN:

Synthesizes the empirical literature on organizationalstructuring to answer the question of how organizations structure themselves --how they resolve needed coordination and division of labor. Organizationalstructuring is defined as the sum total of the ways in which an organizationdivides and coordinates its labor into distinct tasks. Further analysis of theresearch literature is neededin order to builda conceptualframework that will fill in the significant gap left by not connecting adescription of structure to its context: how an organization actuallyfunctions. The results of the synthesis are five basic configurations (the SimpleStructure, the Machine Bureaucracy, the Professional Bureaucracy, theDivisionalized Form, and the Adhocracy) that serve as the fundamental elementsof structure in an organization. Five basic parts of the contemporaryorganization (the operating core, the strategic apex, the middle line, thetechnostructure, and the support staff), and five theories of how it functions(i.e., as a system characterized by formal authority, regulated flows, informalcommunication, work constellations, and ad hoc decision processes) aretheorized. Organizations function in complex and varying ways, due to differing flows -including flows of authority, work material, information, and decisionprocesses. These flows depend on the age, size, and environment of theorganization; additionally, technology plays a key role because of itsimportance in structuring the operating core. Finally, design parameters aredescribed - based on the above five basic parts and five theories - that areused as a means of coordination and division of labor in designingorganizational structures, in order to establish stable patterns of behavior.(CJC).

Doing Business 2020

Doing Business 2020
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2019-11-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464814414

Seventeen in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2020 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity.

The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning

The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning
Author: Peter Barrett
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 71
Release: 2019-02-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1464813787

'The Impact of School Infrastructure on Learning: A Synthesis of the Evidence provides an excellent literature review of the resources that explore the areas of focus for improved student learning, particularly the aspiration for “accessible, well-built, child-centered, synergetic and fully realized learning environments.†? Written in a style which is both clear and accessible, it is a practical reference for senior government officials and professionals involved in the planning and design of educational facilities, as well as for educators and school leaders. --Yuri Belfali, Head of Division, Early Childhood and Schools, OECD Directorate for Education and Skills This is an important and welcome addition to the surprisingly small, evidence base on the impacts of school infrastructure given the capital investment involved. It will provide policy makers, practitioners, and those who are about to commission a new build with an important and comprehensive point of reference. The emphasis on safe and healthy spaces for teaching and learning is particularly welcome. --Harry Daniels, Professor of Education, Department of Education, Oxford University, UK This report offers a useful library of recent research to support the, connection between facility quality and student outcomes. At the same time, it also points to the unmet need for research to provide verifiable and reliable information on this connection. With such evidence, decisionmakers will be better positioned to accurately balance the allocation of limited resources among the multiple competing dimensions of school policy, including the construction and maintenance of the school facility. --David Lever, K-12 Facility Planner, Former Executive Director of the Interagency Committee on School Construction, Maryland Many planners and designers are seeking a succinct body of research defining both the issues surrounding the global planning of facilities as well as the educational outcomes based on the quality of the space provided. The authors have finally brought that body of evidence together in this well-structured report. The case for better educational facilities is clearly defined and resources are succinctly identified to stimulate the dialogue to come. We should all join this conversation to further the process of globally enhancing learning-environment quality! --David Schrader, AIA, Educational Facility Planner and Designer, Former Chairman of the Board of Directors, Association for Learning Environments (A4LE)