Digital Commons Network^™

Individual Resistance To Change, Jeffrey C. Sandusky

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines individual resistance to change and concludes that it is a constantly evolving process with many contributing factors. Defining resistance to change is a challenge within its own right. To account for the actions involved in change resistance is an even more complex undertaking. In this research, resistance to change is examined and explained using the influences of goals, participation, leadership effectiveness, and communication. These factors are expressed as the composition of what makes an individual resist or accept a change. Each of the four elements of resistance to change are examined independently and then synthesized into a …

A Benchmarking Study Of Air Force Program Manager Competencies, Kristy N. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last decade, the Department of Defense (DOD) has redesigned its acquisition process and the allocation of funding which in turned has had a major effect on the Air Force Acquisition program management workforce. The current acquisition workforce continues to face serious shortages of highly skilled program managers resulting in programs and projects overrun, undermanaged, and unexplained increased cost. Highly skilled talent with the necessary technology competencies is in high demand. These skills are critical to the success of programs and mission accomplishments.

The purpose of this benchmarking study is to determine if the Air Force are developing and …

Predictors And Predictive Effects Of Attitudinal Inconsistency Towards Organizational Change, Scott T. Drylie

Theses and Dissertations

Studies have largely portrayed individual resistance as a pervasive, irrational, and problematic response to organizational change initiatives. The current study confronts this interpretation with a model of attitudinal inconsistency that provides a more holistic perspective of the individual during times of change. Inconsistency reveals the degree to which the mental evaluations of a change initiative may conflict and produce weak attitudinal foundations to govern behavior. Measuring affective-cognitive consistency, the tests in this study demonstrate that employees may form inconsistent attitudes towards a change initiative. Inconsistency relates negatively to the perceived quality of management transition techniques such as participation, communication, structured …

A Meta-Analysis Of The Antecedents Of Voluntary Turnover In Studies Involving Active Duty Military Member Populations, Christy A. R. Licklider

Theses and Dissertations

Studies have explored the antecedents to turnover in the military; however, results vary. This research used a meta-analytic method to evaluate reported correlations between antecedents of turnover intent and turnover in an effort to understand the true relationship between them and offer insight to leaders as to where they can affect turnover within their organizations. Included studies reported a military sample and were published between 1973 and 2009. The meta-analysis revealed no correlation between OPTEMPO and turnover intent. Not enough studies were included to evaluate the relationship between OPTEMPO and turnover. Varying definitions and measurements of OPTEMPO raised concern. Additional …

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Combat Survivability Analysis For Operation Enduring Freedom And Operation Iraqi Freedom, Christopher L. Jerome

Theses and Dissertations

The primary tenet of the aircraft survivability discipline is threat definition. In order to deliver relevant capabilities and protection to the warfighter it is imperative; therefore, to provide timely, accurate, and actionable threat data to the survivability community. In an attempt to identify the evolution of aircraft threats in today's combat environment, an analysis of fixed-wing aircraft battle damage was conducted. This analysis reports battle damage incidents from OPERATIONS ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) and IRAQI FREEDOM(OIF). Additionally, reported damage incidents were then validated by crosschecking aircraft maintenance records from this period to eliminate non-hostile fire data points. This revolutionary approach uncovered …

An Architecture For Improving Timeliness And Relevance Of Cyber Incident Notifications, James L. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

This research proposes a communications architecture to deliver timely and relevant cyber incident notifications to dependent mission stakeholders. This architecture, modeled in Unified Modeling Language (UML), eschews the traditional method of pushing notifications via message as dictated in Air Force Instruction 33-138. It instead shifts to a pull or publish and subscribe method of making notifications. Shifting this paradigm improves the notification process by empowering mission owners to identify those resources on which they depend for mission accomplishment, provides a direct conduit between providing and dependent mission owners for notifications when an incident occurs, and provides a shared representation for …

Metric Development For Continuous Process Improvement, Mark A. Degenhardt

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century (AFSO21) is not currently being used as effectively as it could be across the Air Force. Instead of trying to simply save money here or cut man-hours there, AFSO21 tools should be used to help the Air Force "fly, fight and win" better. the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has developed a methodology to identify specific target areas where continuous process improvement, i.e., AFSO21, can be applied to improve the bottom line of an organization. the first step of this process is to solicit the key performance indicators (KPIs) that best …

A Comparative Study Between U.S. And Brazilian Acquisition Regulations And Practices, Kesia G. Gomes

Theses and Dissertations

The researcher undergoes a tripartite comparative analysis approach using: (1) Brazilian Acquisition Law, (2) US Federal Acquisition Regulation and (3) Selected Articles from the European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management (1996-2010). Specifically, the primary research question is: How does the Brazilian Law 8666/93 compare to the American Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR/84)? Therefore, an in-depth assessment and analysis of the procurement systems of the United States and Brazil is executed in order to determine the different perspectives and policies adopted by these countries; and how differently each Government perceive the purchase function. An extensive literature review using selected articles from …

Air Force Institute Of Technology Strategic Plan 2011-2014, Air Force Institute Of Technology, Walter D. Givhan

AFIT Documents

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Effects Of International Traffic In Arms Regulations Restrictions On Innovation In The U.S. Space Industrial Base, Kalliroi L. Landry

Theses and Dissertations

The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) are used to protect United States (U.S.) military technologies. However, changes to ITAR export controls regarding space technologies have had a major impact to the U.S. space industry. The literature mentions a concern for the health of lower-tier firms because they are a major source of innovation, but there is no additional information considering the effects of ITAR on space innovation at those lower tiers. The purpose of this thesis was to explore the implications of continuing the current ITAR restrictions with regard to innovation in the space industry. This research used a …

The Effects Of Opinion Leaders And Change Messages On Organization Member Change Attitudes: A Field Experiment, Ryan L. Leblanc

Theses and Dissertations

The extent to which three change introduction strategies (i.e., opinion leadership, edict, and change message) influenced readiness for change were tested at four locations as part of a quasi-field experiment with three groups receiving an enriched change message and one control group. Readiness was measured before and after change implementation where it was hypothesized that change readiness would be most improved within the groups that heard the most persuasive and rich change messages. These hypotheses were not supported and data indicated that the differing treatments were never received by the majority of the change recipients, rendering the results of the …

Optimizing Aircraft Availability: Where To Spend Your Next O&M Dollar, Frederick G. Fry

Theses and Dissertations

In the current fiscally constrained environment, the Air Force must allocate resources where they are most needed and will be most effectively used. For aircraft, this means spending money on weapon systems in a manner that optimizes aircraft availability rates, thereby maximizing the warfighting capability of the Air Force. With that in mind, this thesis endeavors to improve the analytical capability of the Air Force by demonstrating a definitive link between operations and maintenance (O&M) spending and aircraft availability rates. In order to do that, explanatory regression models are developed that show the relationship between O&M spending and AA rates, …

Air Force Institute Of Technology Research Report 2009, Office Of Research And Sponsored Programs, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Afit

AFIT Documents

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics.

Analyzing Systems Integration Best Practices And Assessment In Dod Space Systems Acquisition, Douglas R. Dillon, Enriqueta M. Styres

Theses and Dissertations

Senior leadership of the Air Force's Space and Missile Center suggested an investigation of systems integration within the space acquisition community in the fall of 2008. This thesis performs that investigation. A review concluded that while Systems Integration (SI) is extensively discussed as an area deserving considerable attention in the Systems Engineering literature, definitions are weak and methods and tools non-existent. Known SI activities are not being traced and assessed for adequacy throughout system development. Employing the Space System Acquisition Lifecycle Framework as the environment for this research, a method of characterizing and tracing SI throughout a program‘s lifecycle by …

Kc-135 Simulator Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, Macaulay-Brown, Inc., Don Chrislaghi, Richard Dyer, Free Jay

AFIT Documents

No abstract provided.

Air Force Institute Of Technology Research Report 2008, Office Of Research And Sponsored Programs, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Afit

AFIT Documents

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics.

Data Quality-A Key To Successfully Implementing Ecss, Craig A. Lane

Theses and Dissertations

In response to the Expeditionary Logistics for the 21st Century (eLog21) campaign initiatives published in 2003, the United States Air Force (USAF) pursued the acquisition of technology to help transform its logistics processes. With process mapping complete and a proposed roll-out schedule, forward progress towards full implementation of the Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS) continues. As a key enabler to achieving eLog21 initiatives, implementing ECSS will help transform current USAF logistics business processes. Integrating more than 450 legacy systems, and with a projected end-state in excess of 750,000 primary, secondary, and tertiary users, ECSS is the largest enterprise resource planning …

Achieving Alignment: An Analysis Of Enterprise Architecture Best Practices Within The United States Air Force, Michael A. Fetters

Theses and Dissertations

This research uncovers areas of best practices that support achieving alignment between an organization’s Information Technology (IT) and its business processes. One principal finding of this effort revealed that the means used to achieve alignment exists within the effective application of Enterprise Architecture (EA), a common practice found throughout the Federal Government, Department of Defense, and the Air Force. EA is the tool used to achieve alignment; likewise, the reason for developing IT architecture is to achieve alignment of IT investments and mission objectives. This research groups the best practices into vision, identification, framework, and governance. Interestingly, these practices relate …

Classification Of Schedule Management Barriers Through Concept Mapping, Gregory W. Voth

Theses and Dissertations

Barriers to adoption of schedule management processes are a matter of serious concern to the acquisition community. Schedule management has been widely accepted to contribute to the successful execution of complicated system development processes since the 1950s. However, studies of recent acquisition failures illustrate that over the last 15 years, there has been significant internal resistance to the adoption of schedule management processes. This exploratory effort used concept mapping to identify and classify the types of barriers existing in the Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC). A series of open-ended questions were posed to four experienced program managers in ASC. Units of …

The Correlation Of Human Capital On Costs Of Air Force Acquisition Programs, Stephen E. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies have linked human capital with performance. The studies have shown performance, measured as output, of a firm can be increased by adding more personnel and/or increasing education levels. This research uses the Cobb-Douglas Production function to build upon that relationship of inputs to outputs. The output in this study is the average cost overrun of Aeronautical Systems Center research, development, test, and evaluation contracts managed from 1994 to 2008. The inputs are the numbers of military/government employee financial managers, program managers, engineers, rated personnel, and military/government employees in those career fields possessing a graduate degree or higher. A …

Application Of Reliability And Linear Regression To Enterprise Architecture In Support Of The Us Air Force's Capability Review And Risk Assessment, Peter C. Mastro, Richard L. Orcutt

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored the use of modeling and enterprise architecture in the analysis of Air Force Capabilities. The Air Force accomplishes this through the Capability Review and Risk Assessment (CRRA). The CRRA is currently performed by building architectures which contain Process Sequence Models (PSMs). PSMs are scored by Subject Matter Experts to determine the probability of successfully completing the mission they model and ultimately to determine the risk associated to Air Force capabilities. Two findings were identified. The first is that creating additional architectural viewpoints, some of which are currently being proposed for version 2.0 of the DoD Architecture Framework, …

An Assessment Of The Air Force Weather Agency's Readiness For Knowledge Management Initiatives, Daniel Tucker

Theses and Dissertations

The successful implementation of knowledge management (KM) initiatives requires a level of commitment and preparedness by the organization that is commensurate with the expected results. An organization must be willing to allocate the necessary resources to ensure their readiness to undertake new KM projects. The purpose of this study is to review AFWA’s organizational culture and measure its propensity for accepting KM initiatives. The study uses empirically validated constructs to evaluate and assess the organization’s people, culture, climate, processes and attitudes as they relate to KM. This research was conducted using semi-structured interviews to elicit respondents’ views about KM practices. …

Modernizing A Preventive Maintenance Strategy For Facility And Infrastructure Maintenance, Ross E. Dotzlaf

Theses and Dissertations

Preventive maintenance (PM) is defined as regularly scheduled maintenance actions based on average failure rates. A properly implemented PM strategy can provide many benefits to an organization in terms of extending equipment life, optimizing resource expenditures, and balancing work schedules. Periodic evaluation of a PM strategy can help identify ways to improve efficiencies and maximize effectiveness. This research effort was accomplished by performing a case study of the United States Air Force’s infrastructure and facility PM program known as the Recurring Work Program (RWP). The methodology consisted of two phases. The first phase, intended to develop an understanding of the …

A Qualitative And Quantitative Assessment Of Readiness For Organizational Change Literature, Andrew B. Burris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to take a step in integrating the change literature and accumulate the empirical results using meta-analytic techniques. First, a literature review of existing research on organizational change was conducted. Second, existing models of organizational change were integrated to create a theoretical structure. Third, a meta-analysis was performed to derive the corrected correlation values for each relationship in that structure. Finally, the readiness for change literature was qualitatively assessed. In addition, a quantitative review was done by accumulating the results across 25 studies in an effort to provide a current quantitative assessment of change management …

Factors Leading To Effectiveness And Satisfaction In Civil Engineer Information Systems, Donald C. Crabtree

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency (AFCESA) has developed information systems in support of civil engineer operations. Over the last decade, the number of systems has grown to support the breadth of civil engineer functions. At this time, numerous (900+) decentralized systems support civil engineer functions around the world. Due to budget constraints, AFCESA is transforming civil engineer business processes to leverage the workforce in an optimized fashion. In support of this transition, AFCESA is posturing to acquire new information systems in support of civil engineer business processes. To help AFCESA improve upon its suite of information systems development …

A Multi-Objective Linear Program Model To Test Hub-And-Spoke Networks As A Potential Air Force Deployment Alternative, Andrew J. Cullen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to develop a multiple-objective mixed-integer linear programming model that determines the feasibility of a new deployment paradigm, which offers greater flexibility to home station and deployed location civil engineers (CE) by applying hub-and-spoke networking. The research covers the histories of CE and Air and Space Expeditionary Force (AEF), current CE deployment needs, multiple-objective decision analysis, hub-and-spoke networking, and organizational behavior benefits of the new paradigm. The methodology section provides details on each objective, explains the model, defines weights, and explains the objective function’s calculation. Next, an analysis of the model’s resulting scenarios helps determine …

Understanding The Emergence Of Disruptive Innovation In The Air Force Science And Technology Organizations, David E. Shahady

Theses and Dissertations

Although innovation is widely discussed in both military and industry venues, many organizations continue to struggle with what it means to be creative as well as maintain a competitive advantage. The United States Air Force has specifically struggled with the balance between improving existing technologies and employing revolutionary technologies. The purpose of this thesis was to study the motivation, focus, barriers, and culture needed to foster disruptive innovation in Air Force Science and Technology (S&T) and to investigate how industry innovation strategies could improve breakthrough Air Force technology emergence. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the primary organization responsible for …

Aircraft Maintenance Organizational Structure Changes An Antecedent Model, Jeffrey M. Durand

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force leadership has ordered the development of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system called the Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS). Many current jobs and positions will be streamlined, restructured or removed, while some will certainly be created to handle the new requirements associated with ECSS. The structure of the Air Force is certain to change with the implementation of ECSS. The Air Force has used many maintenance organizational structures since its inception in 1947. The focus of this research is to analyze past organizational structures to define key factors that affect organizational change. A case study style methodology was …

Governance Structure Transforemation During Erp Implementations, Elise V. Strachan

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (USAF) has a number of initiatives underway to better support tomorrow’s Warfighter. As part of the Expeditionary Logistics for the 21st Century (eLog21) campaign, one of the most critical initiatives is the Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS). ECSS is the world’s largest enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation and will completely transform USAF logistics operations. The benefits of an ERP include centrally-managed and integrated information sharing, while the many challenges include training future state operations and employing change management. An effective governance structure is essential in order for the USAF to realize the full benefits of …

How A Multidimensional View Of Perceived Organizational Support Impacts Self-Efficacy And Task Understanding During Training For Boundary Spanning Tasks, R. Scott Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

Perceived organizational support (POS), defined as how much employees feel the organization they work for cares for them and assists them in their needs, has been traditionally characterized in a single dimension. This study examines the implications of a multidimensional view of POS. POS was separated into three different dimensions based on the organizational level from which support can be viewed to originate: corporate headquarters, the home office, or the training environment. These dimensions of POS were tested to discover their effect on the self-efficacy and task understanding of individuals training for boundary-spanning tasks. These tasks are those that place …