Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Operations and Supply Chain Management (395)
- Engineering (297)
- Human Resources Management (268)
- Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering (139)
- Finance and Financial Management (131)
-
- Business Administration, Management, and Operations (124)
- Aviation (117)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (97)
- Management Information Systems (88)
- Training and Development (88)
- Physical Sciences and Mathematics (73)
- Operational Research (64)
- Organizational Behavior and Theory (60)
- Law (59)
- Government Contracts (55)
- Management and Operations (54)
- Business Analytics (48)
- Performance Management (45)
- Computer Sciences (35)
- Other Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering (32)
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (31)
- Psychology (30)
- Industrial and Organizational Psychology (26)
- Education (25)
- Strategic Management Policy (25)
- Statistics and Probability (22)
- Communication (18)
- Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration (18)
- Systems Engineering (18)
- Keyword
-
- Decision making (28)
- Knowledge management (22)
- Leadership (18)
- Logistics (18)
- Management information systems (17)
-
- Scheduling (17)
- Military airlift (16)
- Military airplanes (16)
- Logistics--Management (15)
- United States. Air Force--Procurement (15)
- Cost effectiveness (14)
- Defense contracts (13)
- Employee retention (13)
- Organizational change (13)
- Personnel management (13)
- Information resources management (12)
- Procurement (12)
- Production scheduling (12)
- Business logistics (11)
- Decision support systems (11)
- Delphi method (11)
- Government purchasing (11)
- Job satisfaction (11)
- Organizational effectiveness (11)
- Acquisitions (10)
- Cost analysis (10)
- Inventory control (10)
- Life cycle costing (10)
- Project management (10)
- Regression analysis (10)
- Publication Year
- Publication Type
Articles 211 - 240 of 1164
Full-Text Articles in Business
Cyber War And Deterrence: Applying A General Theoretical Framework, Isaac Nacita, Mark Reith
Cyber War And Deterrence: Applying A General Theoretical Framework, Isaac Nacita, Mark Reith
Faculty Publications
There is a saying that politicians and generals are always fighting the last war, which is emphasized when the weapons and characteristics of warfare are changing rapidly. However, if this is true, it is often not due to an inability to learn lessons from previous conflicts, but to “overlearn” or overcompensate for the failures and experiences of the past. In reality, this is not a learning problem but one of forming poor implications from historical events, which leads to poor applications of doctrine the next time around. The DOD now acknowledges that warfare has extended into cyberspace, and it is …
Analyzing Operating And Support Costs For Air Force Aircraft, Scott C. Hewitson, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Edward D. White, Gregory Brown
Analyzing Operating And Support Costs For Air Force Aircraft, Scott C. Hewitson, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Edward D. White, Gregory Brown
Faculty Publications
Purpose: Recent legislation resulted in an elevation of operating and support (O&S) costs’ relative importance for decision-making in Department of Defense programs. However, a lack of research in O&S hinders a cost analyst’s abilities to provide accurate sustainment estimates. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate when Air Force aircraft O&S costs stabilize and to what degree. Next, a parametric O&S model is developed to predict median O&S costs for use as a new tool for cost analyst practitioners.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Utilizing the Air Force total ownership cost database, 44 programs consisting of 765 observations from 1996 to 2016 …
Shop Around: An Experiment On Air Force Vehicle Parts Procurement, Melvin K. Boothe
Shop Around: An Experiment On Air Force Vehicle Parts Procurement, Melvin K. Boothe
Theses and Dissertations
Current procurement processes for vehicle parts vary substantially across the Air Force. Many of these parts are "commercial off-the-shelf" items that are procured through local vendors via a government purchase card. Understanding what guidance dictates various purchasing processes and how that guidance affects the behavior of purchasers is unknown. A mixed method approach of semi-structured interviews of purchasers at multiple bases and an experimental survey testing different sets of guidance are used to understand the effects of guidance, as well as produce recommendations for action and future research for leaders at the local and headquarters levels.
Not All Tons Are Created Equal; Analyzing Aerial Port Capability To Define The Working Ton, Casey L. Owens
Not All Tons Are Created Equal; Analyzing Aerial Port Capability To Define The Working Ton, Casey L. Owens
Theses and Dissertations
United States Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) along with Air Mobility Command (AMC) provide airlift assets that accomplish thousands of missions around the world every week for cargo distribution. The current unit of measure is a short ton, which is the primary metric used in decision making. However, the short ton measurement does not adequately predict the amount of work necessary to properly prepare different cargo types for airlift. Utilizing the short ton metric leads to inadequate forecasting times for cargo preparation and aircraft loading, which leads to delayed missions. The root of the problem is that the metric used does not …
Investigating Capability Development Management For The Air Force Strategic Development Planning And Experimentation (Spde) Office, Sarah M. Pak
Theses and Dissertations
The Air Force provides unique capabilities for the defense of our nation. Capabilities do not come to fruition instantly; they must go through a development process. Managing the development of a capability is a difficult but necessary task. In 2016, a report from the Air Force Studies Board prompted the Air Force to focus on the Capability Development Process and its improvement. In response to the report, the Strategic Development Planning & Experimentation (SDPE) Office was formed. The SDPE Office is tasked to support Enterprise Capability Collaboration Teams (ECCTs), which are, in turn, tasked to research and solve prominent issues …
Managing Supply Discrepancies: The Effect Of Performance Measurement And Feedback On Order Fulfillment Quality, Michael J. Weber
Managing Supply Discrepancies: The Effect Of Performance Measurement And Feedback On Order Fulfillment Quality, Michael J. Weber
Theses and Dissertations
Extensive research on the impact of shipping and packaging errors in the private sector finds numerous negative outcomes, including reduced customer satisfaction, reduced customer loyalty, and lower profitability. However, little research has been done examining the impact of order fulfillment errors on military operations. The purpose of this research is to quantify the impact of supply discrepancy reports (SDRs) on military aircraft readiness metrics, including cannibalizations, not mission capable supply (NMCS) hours, aircraft availability and MICAP hours. Results show SDRs significantly impact aircraft readiness metrics in seven of the fifteen analyses conducted. Additionally, a quasi-experimental study is implemented at DLA …
Analysis Of Influences Of Separation Decisions In The Financial Management Career Field, Shauna Young
Analysis Of Influences Of Separation Decisions In The Financial Management Career Field, Shauna Young
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this research was to analyze influences on separation decisions of active duty Air Force financial management officers. Researchers tested nine variables to determine their separation implications. The tested variables were major command, age, prior enlisted service, spouse, commissioning source, AFIT cost analysis master’s degrees, engagement, crystallization of job alternatives, and exhaustion. Results proved that age, prior enlisted service, having a spouse, and being an Air Force Academy or AFIT graduate correlates to whether a financial management officer will separate from the Air Force. In addition, the engagement level or having a defined list of job alternatives readily …
Parametric Survival Analysis Of Us Air Force Rated Officer Retention, Jacob R. Lindell
Parametric Survival Analysis Of Us Air Force Rated Officer Retention, Jacob R. Lindell
Theses and Dissertations
Personnel retention is a very important topic in both the private and public sectors. Not only do companies need to make sure they have the right people, they need to have the right amount of people. Within the public sector, specifically the US Air Force, maintaining appropriate manning comes in two phases; bringing in the right amount of people each year, and retaining enough people from year to year. These two aspects go hand in hand; if the Air Force knows how many people they will lose in a given year, they can bring in the exact number of people …
Evaluating The Air Force Inspection System, Luis D. Rosado-Medina
Evaluating The Air Force Inspection System, Luis D. Rosado-Medina
Theses and Dissertations
SAF/IG implemented the Air Force Inspection System (AFIS) in 2013 following a USAFE pilot study into its potential for implementation across the Air Force. Using responsive constructive evaluation and content analysis of interviews as a methodology, AFIS was evaluated against the objectives laid out in AFPAD13-01. 18 interviews were conducted on 4 stakeholder groups across the inspection enterprise, which resulted in 4 overarching themes: Culture Shifts, Self-Assessment, Higher Headquarters Relationships, and PAD Objectives. This research allows SAF/IG to implement changes to future versions of AFIS that incorporates views from the field.
How A Conducive Environment And Susceptible Followers Influence Toxic Leadership Behaviors In The Air Force: An Examination Of The Toxic Triangle Theory, Rachel S. Beightel
How A Conducive Environment And Susceptible Followers Influence Toxic Leadership Behaviors In The Air Force: An Examination Of The Toxic Triangle Theory, Rachel S. Beightel
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this thesis was to determine what characteristics of the Air Force’s environment and Airmen perpetuate toxic leadership behaviors. This survey study was designed, using the toxic triangle theory, to evaluate the toxic leadership behaviors, susceptible follower traits, and conducive environment characteristics participants have experienced in the Air Force. The study applied ordinary least squares path analysis to determine the influence susceptible followers and characteristics of a conducive environment have on toxic leadership behaviors in the Air Force. Results revealed that collusive followers have a direct influence on toxic leadership. While only two characteristics of a conducive environment …
Flightline Heroics And The Façade Of A Healthy Common Support Equipment Fleet, Benjamin D. Bobic
Flightline Heroics And The Façade Of A Healthy Common Support Equipment Fleet, Benjamin D. Bobic
Theses and Dissertations
Access to serviceable support equipment enables aircraft maintenance crews the ability to efficiently keep assigned aircraft safe and mission capable. Current Air Force policy does not require formal management and enterprise fleet health reporting of serialized support equipment. As such, articulating funding requirements to replace equipment has been a challenge for equipment managers. To better articulate support equipment requirements, equipment managers need quantifiable support equipment data. A previous study examined the relationship between aircraft availability and support equipment availability. While finding no significant correlation, the author identifies the practices of "Frankensteining" and "Beg-Borrow-Steal" as possible reasons for the absence of …
Improving Personnel Selection Through Value Focused Thinking, Joshua D. Deehr
Improving Personnel Selection Through Value Focused Thinking, Joshua D. Deehr
Theses and Dissertations
Personnel selection has always and will continue to be a challenging endeavor for the military special operations. They want to select the best out of a number of qualified applicants. How an organization determines what makes a successful candidate and how to compare candidates against each other are some of the difficulties that top tier organizations like the special operations face. Value focused thinking (VFT) places criteria in a hierarchal structure and quantifies the values with criteria measurements, known as a decision model. The selection process can be similar to a college selecting their students. This research used college student …
C-130j Inventory Control Point Location Determination, Joshua P. Casey
C-130j Inventory Control Point Location Determination, Joshua P. Casey
Theses and Dissertations
Since the first C-130J delivery in 1999, Lockheed Martin has managed the USAF’s C-130J “peculiar” parts inventory at Keesler AFB. Now with 193 aircraft assigned to 17 operating locations across the globe, effective supply chain management and recognized cost savings are essential components to mission success and fleet longevity. Previous research within the area of location analysis has shown that minimizing the average weighted distance of shipping products can assist in cost reduction efforts. Due to this, the goal of this study is to determine if alternative CONUS C-130J locations can be utilized as the Inventory Control Point to help …
Supply Chain Financial Analysis In Support Of International Development Objectives, Michael J. Hester
Supply Chain Financial Analysis In Support Of International Development Objectives, Michael J. Hester
Theses and Dissertations
Throughout the 21st century, the Department of Defense has carried the burden in combatting extremist ideologies around the globe, spending an estimated $4.79 trillion fighting wars in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan. A recognition of the unsustainable nature of fighting such long-term, costly wars has led U.S. national security policy to shift in recent years towards combatting extremism through economic development and building capacity in less stable communities around the globe. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the government agency responsible for achieving this objective, yet USAID acknowledges that many of the supply chains the agency finances are …
Flexibility – Designing For Optionality On Warehouse Modernization Projects, Stephen T. Lane
Flexibility – Designing For Optionality On Warehouse Modernization Projects, Stephen T. Lane
Theses and Dissertations
The Department of Defense relies upon a vast network logistics facilities and capabilities across the planet. Assets are largely sourced from the Defense Logistics Agency, which is considering a modernization project for their Eastern Distribution Center (EDC). It handles 25% of all materials that DLA supplies, and the facility is antiquated. In order to maximize their investment, flexible options for the modernization should be considered. This research was conducted as a case study of the EDC in order to develop a framework of flexibility for DoD decision makers going forward. This case study gathers subject matter expert knowledge from government …
A Study Of Military Health Care Costs: Direct Versus Purchased Care In A Geographical Region, Lindsey N. Mcevoy
A Study Of Military Health Care Costs: Direct Versus Purchased Care In A Geographical Region, Lindsey N. Mcevoy
Theses and Dissertations
Health care expenses are one of the largest contributing factors to increased personnel costs, the fastest-rising component of the Department of Defense's budget. This research examines the cost implications of developing a new military treatment facility in a specified geographical region, in an effort to reduce military health care spending. Care received at a military treatment facility is referred to as direct care, while care received in the private sector is referred to as purchased care. This research leverages existing information on direct and purchased medical care to gain insights into the workload costs for medical care in a geographical …
Resilient Aircraft Maintenance Constructs: Enhancing Repair Network Designs To Effectively Manage Risks And Supply Chain Interruptions, Thomas S. Bihansky
Resilient Aircraft Maintenance Constructs: Enhancing Repair Network Designs To Effectively Manage Risks And Supply Chain Interruptions, Thomas S. Bihansky
Theses and Dissertations
This research aims to extend the understanding of supply chain resiliency by utilizing a simulation model of a U.S. Air Force aircraft engine repair network to evaluate the degree of resiliency built into the system. The study compares the recovery time of the disrupted current system to that of a fully-integrated repair network; the objective being the quantification of resiliency in the current networks design and gauging the effectiveness of various strategies in reducing recovery time. This contributes to current literature by bridging the explicit gap on how to quantify, measure, and compare resilient supply chain strategies and also provides …
Strategic Sourcing Via Category Management: Helping Air Force Installation Contracting Agency Eat One Piece Of The Elephant, Theodore S. Holliger
Strategic Sourcing Via Category Management: Helping Air Force Installation Contracting Agency Eat One Piece Of The Elephant, Theodore S. Holliger
Theses and Dissertations
The United States Air Force can dramatically reduce resource consumption through strategic sourcing initiatives that leverage sensibly-bound pockets of spend via category management. However, category creation is a particularly daunting task due to the sheer magnitude of purchasing data in large organizations. Text mining is one way to identify categories. Specifically, term frequency analysis, term frequency-inverse document frequency analysis, and topic modeling can identify category membership, unique characteristics of categories, and thematic natures of the categories. This thesis developed an empirical, generalizable, reproducible methodology to analyze historical contract text descriptions to uncover the data’s hidden structure. A sample case was …
Cultivating Agile Organizational Culture: Addressing Resistance To Change In Bureaucratic Government Organizations, Michael P. Mclane
Cultivating Agile Organizational Culture: Addressing Resistance To Change In Bureaucratic Government Organizations, Michael P. Mclane
Theses and Dissertations
Resistance to change is a phenomenon that affects organizations almost universally. All organizations large and small are continuously challenged to adjust, evolve and innovate to gain or maintain competitive advantage and mission effectiveness. Alarmingly high failure rates are reported: 30-70% of change initiatives falling short of their prescribed intent or never attain the desired results. This research investigates how bureaucratic governmental organizations can address this truth, and how leadership can cultivate a flexible, agile culture that is more adaptable to the demands of constant change. This study uses case study methodology and qualitative research methods aid in the understanding of …
Critical Issues In The Air Force Medical Equipment Procurement Process, Samuel H. Pang
Critical Issues In The Air Force Medical Equipment Procurement Process, Samuel H. Pang
Theses and Dissertations
The Air Force medical logistics community relies on multiple contracting offices to acquire medical equipment for the Air Force Medical Service. The perception is that burdensome regulations contribute to the challenges faced in the procurement process. This research takes a broader examination to understand the factors leading to long lead times and delayed procurements. Process mapping and interviews with the key stakeholders supporting medical equipment procurement determined that the critical issues were a lack of centralized medical equipment contracting authority, insufficient market research and inconsistent local knowledge on contracting processes. This research provides future recommendations for the Air Force Medical …
Unmasking Cost Growth Behavior: A Longitudinal Study, Cory N. D'Amico, Edward D. White, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Scott R. Kozlak
Unmasking Cost Growth Behavior: A Longitudinal Study, Cory N. D'Amico, Edward D. White, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Scott R. Kozlak
Faculty Publications
This article examines how cost growth factors (CGF) change over a program’s acquisition life cycle for 36 Department of Defense aircraft programs. Starting from Milestone B, the authors examine CGFs at five gateways: Critical Design Review, First Flight (FF), the end of Developmental Test and Evaluation (DT&E), Initial Operational Capability, and Full Operational Capability. Each CGF is assigned a color rating based upon the program’s cost growth: Green (low), Amber (moderate), or Red (high). Significant findings include dependencies among similar CGF color ratings and cost growth occurring primarily between FF and the end of DT&E during a program’s life cycle.
Load Planning Processes To Enhance Cargo Compartment Utilization, Nathan J. Carlson, Adam D. Reiman, Robert E. Overstreet, Matthew A. Douglas
Load Planning Processes To Enhance Cargo Compartment Utilization, Nathan J. Carlson, Adam D. Reiman, Robert E. Overstreet, Matthew A. Douglas
Faculty Publications
Purpose: The United States Air Force often provides effective airlift for cargo distribution, but is at times inefficient. This paper aims to address the under-utilization of military airlift cargo compartments that plagues the airlift system.
Design/methodology/approach: The authors examine seven techniques designed to increase cargo compartment utilization and increase airlift utilization rates. The techniques were applied through load planning software to 30 real-world movements consisting of 159 sorties. They then ran each post-technique movement through a modeled flight environment to obtain cycle movement data. The metrics gained from both the load planning software and the modeled environment were regressed to …
Evaluating Process Improvement Courses Of Action Through Modeling And Simulation, Joseph R. Owens
Evaluating Process Improvement Courses Of Action Through Modeling And Simulation, Joseph R. Owens
Theses and Dissertations
Quantifying an expected improvement when considering moderate-complexity changes to a process is time consuming and has potential to overlook stochastic effects. By modeling a process as a Numerical Design Structure Matrix (NDSM), simulating the proposed changes, and evaluating performance, quantification can be rapidly accomplished to understand stochastic effects. This thesis explores a method to evaluate complex process changes within Six Sigma DMAIC process improvement to identify the most desirable outcome amongst several improvement options. A tool to perform the modeling and evaluation is developed. This process evaluation tool is verified for functionality, then is demonstrated against generic processes, a case …
Forecasting Us Army Enlistment Contract Production In Complex Geographical Marketing Areas, Joshua L. Mcdonald, Edward D. White, Raymond R. Hill, Christian Pardo
Forecasting Us Army Enlistment Contract Production In Complex Geographical Marketing Areas, Joshua L. Mcdonald, Edward D. White, Raymond R. Hill, Christian Pardo
Faculty Publications
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate an improved method for forecasting the US Army recruiting. Design/methodology/approach: Time series methods, regression modeling, principle components and marketing research are included in this paper. Findings: This paper found the unique ability of multiple statistical methods applied to a forecasting context to consider the effects of inputs that are controlled to some degree by a decision maker. Research limitations/implications: This work will successfully inform the US Army recruiting leadership on how this improved methodology will improve their recruitment process.
Practical implications: Improved US Army analytical technique for forecasting recruiting goals.
Improving Resource Management In The Afghan Air Force, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Tamiko L. Ritschel
Improving Resource Management In The Afghan Air Force, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Tamiko L. Ritschel
Faculty Publications
The nascent Afghan Air Force (AAF) is rapidly changing with new platforms programmed and existing platforms expanding. As US and coalition forces draw down, the transition of financial responsibility from American to Afghan processes is on the horizon.
The Myth Of Strategic And Tactical Airlift, Jacob D. Maywald, Adam D. Reiman, Alan A. Johnson, Robert E. Overstreet
The Myth Of Strategic And Tactical Airlift, Jacob D. Maywald, Adam D. Reiman, Alan A. Johnson, Robert E. Overstreet
Faculty Publications
In the 21st century, our ability to quickly and decisively deliver combat forces and equipment is of the utmost importance in achieving our national security objectives. The swiftness and flexibility of the US Air Force’s mobility airlift fleet is the key to executing a rapid global mobility strategy. The operational effectiveness and efficiency of military air transportation relies on the expertise and intuition of Air Mobility Command’s (AMC) mobility planners. Working in coordination with the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) and geographic combatant commands (GCC), AMC is responsible for the tasking and tracking of almost 900 daily mobility sorties worldwide. …
Determining Field Requirements Of The Air Force Supply System: A Delphi Study, Dominic G. Baker
Determining Field Requirements Of The Air Force Supply System: A Delphi Study, Dominic G. Baker
Theses and Dissertations
The Air Force Supply System can be a convoluted network of organizations with different classes of supply being managed by different organizations. Individuals deployed to austere environments must interact with multiple organizations to get logistics support. Recent supply organizational changes have improved the Air Forces ability to present combat support capability to the combatant commands and deployed logisticians. This research focused on simplifying the process by identifying the need for and determining the ideal capabilities provided by a Logistics Command and Control support cell that would provide a touch point for logistics support to those in a deployed or austere …
Maintenance Officer Initial Skills Training Timeline, Aaron T. Vincent
Maintenance Officer Initial Skills Training Timeline, Aaron T. Vincent
Theses and Dissertations
There is a current gap in training literature with regards to the benefits of on-the-job training (OJT) prior to formal training. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explore the best time to schedule new logistics managers to attend formal classroom training by using Aircraft Maintenance Officer Course (AMOC) as a real world example. Two surveys were created, a survey of new aircraft maintenance (21A) Officers and a survey of 21A leadership, to collect the primary data for this research. Through the data this research proposes a timeline for the addition of OJT prior to AMOC in order to …
A Longitudinal Study And Color Rating System Of Acquisition Cost Growth, Cory N. D'Amico
A Longitudinal Study And Color Rating System Of Acquisition Cost Growth, Cory N. D'Amico
Theses and Dissertations
different angles have been looked at to try and discover how to better estimate cost, what causes cost growth, and how to mitigate it. This research addresses this through examining cost growth from a longitudinal perspective, evaluating cost growth factors at major program reviews, and assessing the cost growth by applying color rating metrics. The results of this analysis show that breaking cost growth into longitudinal segments of a programs lifecycle allows the true behavior of cost growth to be seen, when it can often be masked in the traditional approach of evaluating lifecycle cost growth. Additionally, when applying the …
Engineering Change Orders And Their Impact On Dod Acquisition Contracts, Ian S. Cordell
Engineering Change Orders And Their Impact On Dod Acquisition Contracts, Ian S. Cordell
Theses and Dissertations
Cost growth is a problem DoD wide. Cost Estimators attempt to remedy this problem by accounting for uncertainty in the estimates they complete. They use tools such as Engineering Change Orders (ECO’s) to account for the uncertainty, by applying a percentage to the final amount estimated. The following research gives the acquisition community a more precise tool to predict whether a DoD Acquisition Contract will have an Engineering Change Order, which can then be used also during programmatic cost estimating, and also a method for predicting the proper amount of ECO to apply when certain variables are present. The study …