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Articles 361 - 390 of 1164
Full-Text Articles in Business
Optimizing Aircraft Availability: Where To Spend Your Next O&M Dollar, Frederick G. Fry
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, …
The Effects Of Opinion Leaders And Change Messages On Organization Member Change Attitudes: A Field Experiment, Ryan L. Leblanc
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 …
Defining The Technology Transition Manager Within The Acquisition Framework Of The Department Of Defense, Ernest Csoma
Defining The Technology Transition Manager Within The Acquisition Framework Of The Department Of Defense, Ernest Csoma
Theses and Dissertations
One of the main challenges in new product development is maintaining communication and coordination among the various development and product teams supporting the project. This research proposes the establishment of a technology transition manager who acts on the behalf of the program manager as a “deal broker” to facilitate the transition of technology from one organization to another for further development and integration. Specifically, the researcher sought to answer five research questions addressing the required experience, expertise, organizational alignment, job skills, individual characteristics, roles, and responsibilities of technology transition managers. The researcher also examined differing expectations of transition managers among …
Development Of A Concept Maturity Assessment Framework, Robinson C.L. Hughes
Development Of A Concept Maturity Assessment Framework, Robinson C.L. Hughes
Theses and Dissertations
Concept selection is an important investment decision point in product development. The Department of Defense too often selects concepts based on insufficient data, resulting in projects that are over-budget, over-schedule, and not what the customer wants. Decision makers must select for further development only the concepts that are effective and suitable to meet the needs of the users and require mature concepts to make an informed decision. This research proposes a stage-gated framework as a tool to assess and increase the maturity of concepts by creating an information criteria baseline at each decision gate. The framework represents a developmental scale …
Korean Domestic Third Party Logistics Providers: Research For A Global Market, Daewon Kim
Korean Domestic Third Party Logistics Providers: Research For A Global Market, Daewon Kim
Theses and Dissertations
The objective of this thesis is to contribute to the globalization of Korean domestic third party logistics companies. This is accomplished through a benchmarking model for globalization based on a comparative analysis of domestic and global third party logistics provider (3PLs) companies. The research performed a SWOT analysis to identify the capabilities required by Korean domestic 3PLs to become global 3PLs. The research investigated the following areas: 1) global service, 2) infrastructure, 3) supply chain management (SCM) services, and 4) information technology (promptness, visibility). This was accomplished by an extensive literature review, case analysis of logistics companies, and telephone interviews …
Supply Chain Resilience: Assessing Usaf Weapon System Life Cycle, Brian P. Tobin
Supply Chain Resilience: Assessing Usaf Weapon System Life Cycle, Brian P. Tobin
Theses and Dissertations
The Air Force Global Logistics Support Center (AFGLSC) is responsible for the United States Air Force’s supply chain. One of the AFGLSC’s responsibilities is to improve AF supply chain processes. This thesis investigates the subject of supply chain resilience and its potential impact for improving supply chain management. Through literature a supply chain resilience framework and measurement tool was identified for potential benefit to Air Force supply chain management. Air Force weapon systems were identified and segmented into two phases of the weapon system life cycle. This research analyzes data collected on supply chain resilience factors, vulnerabilities and capabilities, for …
Delivery Time Variance Reduction In The Military Supply Chain, Preston L. Goodrich
Delivery Time Variance Reduction In The Military Supply Chain, Preston L. Goodrich
Theses and Dissertations
The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is currently responsible for the daily shipment of supplies to forward operating bases throughout Afghanistan. Aerial cargo shipments are an important method used to quickly deliver items that are needed immediately. Currently, delivery times vary greatly. This variation causes a decrease in confidence for on-time deliveries. As a result, shipments are demanded early and often, causing bottlenecks in the transportation system and fewer on-time deliveries. This paper analyzes data gathered through the global transportation network to determine shipment characteristics that cause the greatest amount of delivery time variance. A simulation is developed using the …
An Empirical Study Of Re-Sampling Techniques As A Method For Improving Error Estimates In Split-Plot Designs, Benjamin M. Lee
An Empirical Study Of Re-Sampling Techniques As A Method For Improving Error Estimates In Split-Plot Designs, Benjamin M. Lee
Theses and Dissertations
For any acquisition program, whether Department of Defense (DOD) or industry related, the primary driving factor behind the success of a program is whether or not the program remains within budget, stays on schedule and meets the defined performance requirements. If any of these three criteria are not met, the program manager may need to make challenging decisions. Typically, if the program is expected to not stay within budget or is expected to be delayed for one reason or another, the program manager will tend to limit areas of testing in order to meet these criteria. The result tends to …
Optimizing An F-16 Squadron Weekly Pilot Schedule For The Turkish Air Force, Murat Yavuz
Optimizing An F-16 Squadron Weekly Pilot Schedule For The Turkish Air Force, Murat Yavuz
Theses and Dissertations
Fighter squadrons in the Turkish Air Force build flight schedules for weekly periods. This process requires a great deal of time and does not seek optimality. Schedules are built with feasibility concerns. The Turkish Air Force doesn’t have an automated tool for flight scheduling. Many constraints including crew rest, number of sorties flown in a month, and duty currencies affect the schedule. Providing an automated scheduling tool may help schedulers save time for other squadron tasks including mission preparation, briefing, and debriefing. In this research, a heuristic approach to the problem is developed. Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedures (GRASP) is …
Downside Risk Optimization Of The Thrift Savings Plan Lifecycle Fund Portfolios, Matthew C. Beck
Downside Risk Optimization Of The Thrift Savings Plan Lifecycle Fund Portfolios, Matthew C. Beck
Theses and Dissertations
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), the defined benefit contribution plan for the US Government, introduced the asset allocation Lifecycle (L) Funds in August 2005. These funds seek to minimize risk and maximize expected portfolio return via mean-variance optimization (MVO). The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and examine the efficiency of the TSP L Funds and create alternative L Fund portfolios via downside risk optimization (DRO). Whereas MVO minimizes the portfolio variance (standard deviation), DRO seeks to minimize the risk below an investor’s minimal acceptable return in the market, defined as the Co-Lower Partial Moment (CLPM). The research team …
Evaluation Of Cost Improvement Models When Programs Experience Unplanned Production Decreases, Anthony R. George
Evaluation Of Cost Improvement Models When Programs Experience Unplanned Production Decreases, Anthony R. George
Theses and Dissertations
As military and other governmental budgets decline and impacted project deadline changes require instantaneous responses, cost analysts' tasks become more and more formidable. Inaccurate estimates can lead to misappropriation of resources and can thus create delays in goods reaching warfighters. This thesis aims to avail cost estimators of more reliable projection tools and to challenge the status quo of cost estimating, the production rate cost improvement model, when programs face reductions in lot quantities. The findings reveal that the status quo proves efficient under many cost profiles, but clearly does not estimate as well when a program suffers lot quantity …
A Study Of Formal And Informal Mentoring In The United States Air Force, Russell H. Gheesling
A Study Of Formal And Informal Mentoring In The United States Air Force, Russell H. Gheesling
Theses and Dissertations
Mentoring has been identified as a significant contributor to employee performance and development. Debate has come about as result of implementation of formal mentoring programs where mentors are assigned to protégés as opposed to informal relationship formed out of mutual respect and liking. Secondary data, including measures of leader member exchange, similarity, contact time, and others, were used from a 1998 survey of company grade officers (protégés) and their formal and informal mentors. Analysis of Variance compared mean values between formally and informally mentored protégés. Additionally, a logistic regression was used to understand the impact that different measures had on …
Understanding The Effectiveness Of Performance Management Practices, Ross T. Johnston
Understanding The Effectiveness Of Performance Management Practices, Ross T. Johnston
Theses and Dissertations
Effective employee management is an essential element for achieving and sustaining a competitive advantage. Through a variety of performance management practices organizations can translate competitive strategies into individual performance expectations and transform employee potential into desired organizational outcomes. Despite the promise of robust performance management practices, a significant research gap exists between the scientific research in Organizational Behavior (OB) and the performance management practices espoused by the “practitioners.” The purpose of this thesis research is to explore a set of performance management practices as an initial step toward providing direct, empirical support for the linkages between performance management practices, the …
Value-Driven Enterprise Architecture Evaluation For The Joint Force Protection Advanced Security System, Craig E. Mills
Value-Driven Enterprise Architecture Evaluation For The Joint Force Protection Advanced Security System, Craig E. Mills
Theses and Dissertations
The U.S. military has placed a strong focus on the importance of operating in a joint environment, where capabilities and missions are shared between service components. Protecting U.S. forces is a major consideration in the joint environment. The Joint Force Protection Advanced Security System (JFPASS) architecture has been created to fill a critical gap in Joint Force Protection guidance for systems acquisition. The systems engineering (SE) field has made wide use of system architectures to represent complex systems. As fundamental SE principles become more widespread, analysis tools provide an objective method for the evaluation of the resulting architectural products. This …
The Emergence Of A Content Acceptance Model (Cam): New Thoughts Regarding The Trial, Adoption, And Usage Of New Media, Ryan G. Walinski
The Emergence Of A Content Acceptance Model (Cam): New Thoughts Regarding The Trial, Adoption, And Usage Of New Media, Ryan G. Walinski
Theses and Dissertations
New Media is defined not by the technology that it is based on but rather on individual level attributes that contribute to the development of new artifacts, practices and social arrangements. However, existing technology adoption models tend to stress technology and organizational level attributes over such individual level characteristics. This suggests that new models are required in order to fully capture how the New Media adoption process works. We are moving away from organizational and technology adoption focus and towards an individual and content adoption focus. A review of existing technology acceptance models reveals that the content provided by these …
Daylighting Strategies For U.S. Air Force Office Facilities: Economic Analysis Of Building Energy Performance And Life-Cycle Cost Modeling With Monte Carlo Method, Sang M. Lee
Theses and Dissertations
The U.S. federal government maintains more than 500,000 facilities in the United States and around the world, most of which are heavily dependent on fossil fuels to produce electricity. Within the federal government, the Department of Defense (DOD) spends over $2.5 billion per year on facility energy consumption which makes them the largest single energy consumer in the United States. Therefore, federal energy conservation goals focus on aggressively reducing energy consumption by reducing the energy demand at the facility level within the next 20 years. Daylighting is a passive solar energy strategy at the facility level that leverages load avoidance …
An Investigation Of Knowledge Transfer And Retention In A Government Procurement Office, Garland T. Mobley
An Investigation Of Knowledge Transfer And Retention In A Government Procurement Office, Garland T. Mobley
Theses and Dissertations
There is no measure for the loss of corporate memory. Organizations build a reservoir of knowledge in its employees, and this knowledge becomes a critical ingredient in an organization’s ability to carry out its mission. Knowledgeable people are extremely valuable and once they leave, their organizationally-applied knowledge leaves with them. This study introduces specific knowledge attributes that significantly impact effective tacit and explicit knowledge transfer and retention. Under this construct the proposed investigation explores a government program office to see if replacing experienced government employees with outsourced personnel impacts corporate knowledge retention. The study concludes that a loss of corporate …
The Effect Of Values On System Development Project Outcomes, Daniel B. Ward
The Effect Of Values On System Development Project Outcomes, Daniel B. Ward
Theses and Dissertations
In order to understand why organizations make certain decisions and target certain outcomes, it is useful to understand their priorities and preferences, commonly referred to as “values.” This research explores the relationship between the technical values held by system development teams and the operational effectiveness of the systems those teams produce. Specifically, it examines the impact of a value set called FIST (Fast, Inexpensive, Simple, Tiny) on DoD and NASA system development projects, and investigates the correlation between the FIST values and operational outcomes. The findings show that the FIST value set enhances project stability, increases the project leader’s control …
An Econometric Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Compensation To Retention, Juan Jose Guzman
An Econometric Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Compensation To Retention, Juan Jose Guzman
Theses and Dissertations
In July 2001, Lieutenant General Donald L. Peterson, Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, United States Air Force, testified before Congress that adverse retention rates were senior leadership’s number one concern. Military compensation sustains "defense manpower policies that in turn support the nation's defense strategy." Defense spending must be allocated efficiently to maintain the optimal mix of forces and weapon systems to respond to national security objectives. The President requested $149.9 billion for military pay and healthcare for Fiscal Year 2009, or 29 percent of the total proposed defense budget. When military compensation constitutes nearly one-third of department expenses, its impact …
Analysis Of The Military Medical Retirement System, Joseph M. Barnum
Analysis Of The Military Medical Retirement System, Joseph M. Barnum
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this research was to evaluate the 60 year old military medical retirement system. Specifically, this thesis answered three research questions regarding a comparison of pay between the current system and the societal standard for injury and illness, identification of current segments of the military population disproportionately affected by the current system, and establishment of a minimal standard for medical retirement compensation. Previous research established the societal standard for compensation as the Value of Statistical Life. This thesis compared the current military medical retirement system with the Value of Statistical Life and identified several segments of the military …
Data Quality-A Key To Successfully Implementing Ecss, Craig A. Lane
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 …
Implementation Of Performance-Based Acquisition In Non-Western Countries, Fatih Cebeci
Implementation Of Performance-Based Acquisition In Non-Western Countries, Fatih Cebeci
Theses and Dissertations
"Performance-based acquisition (PBA)" means an acquisition structured around the results to be achieved as opposed to the manner by which the work is to be performed. Performance-based acquisition is a results-oriented acquisition strategy used to achieve innovative solutions in agency programs. Most military systems have been used for decades, so future planning of defense procurement is critically important. Performance-based acquisition is a strategic method to manage business by promoting flexibility and innovation and creating win/win solutions through effective communication, organizational goal alignment, and clear accountability among the buyer, seller(s), and subcontractors. In this century, many governments are transitioning their acquisition …
A 4-Step Process Evaluation Model To Assess The Success Of Performance Based Logistics Contracts, Ferit Buyukgural
A 4-Step Process Evaluation Model To Assess The Success Of Performance Based Logistics Contracts, Ferit Buyukgural
Theses and Dissertations
Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) is DoD' s preferred product support approach in order to satisfy vitally-important war fighter needs. The elasticity of these needs makes it impossible to build a one-fits-all template PBL contract with the contractors. Thus, both economic metrics such as Cost per Unit Usage and non-economic metrics such as Availability, Reliability, Logistics Foot Print and Logistics Response Time can be defined and tailored according to each individual program. However, evaluation of the success of a PBL contract gets harder proportional to the increased number of different types of metrics. This research suggests an integrated model approach for combining …
Achieving Alignment: An Analysis Of Enterprise Architecture Best Practices Within The United States Air Force, Michael A. Fetters
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
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 …
Education And Training As Part Of An Expeditionary Combat Support System Implementation Strategy, Thomas M. Sprague
Education And Training As Part Of An Expeditionary Combat Support System Implementation Strategy, Thomas M. Sprague
Theses and Dissertations
One current venture of the United States Air Force (USAF) is the implementation of the largest ever single-instance of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This project, dubbed Enterprise Combat Support System (ECSS), has the potential to integrate the USAF worldwide supply chain and make transparent the currently cloudy connections between parts, people and processes. Unfortunately, ERP implementations are rife with potential problems and there is no guarantee of successfully implementing ECSS unless the USAF properly manages these problems. One problem area the USAF must manage is ERP education and training. According to the literature, this area is consistently underestimated. …
Cost Forecasting Models For The Air Force Flying Hour Program, Tyler J. Hess
Cost Forecasting Models For The Air Force Flying Hour Program, Tyler J. Hess
Theses and Dissertations
The fiscally constrained environment in which the Air Force executes its mission places great emphasis on accurate cost estimates for planning and budgeting purposes. Inaccurate estimates result in budget risks and undermine the ability of Air Force leadership to allocate resources efficiently. This thesis evaluates the current method used by the Air Force and introduces new methods to forecast future Flying Hour Program costs. The findings suggest the current forecasting method’s assumption of a proportional relationship between cost and flying hours is inappropriate and the relationship is actually inelastic. Prior research has used log-linear least squares regression techniques to forecast …
The Correlation Of Human Capital On Costs Of Air Force Acquisition Programs, Stephen E. Gray
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 …
An Assessment Of The Air Force Weather Agency's Readiness For Knowledge Management Initiatives, Daniel Tucker
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. …
Value-Driven Enterprise Architecture Score: Evaluation Applied To Joint Force Protection Future State Design, Larry D. Cotton, Gary A. Haase
Value-Driven Enterprise Architecture Score: Evaluation Applied To Joint Force Protection Future State Design, Larry D. Cotton, Gary A. Haase
Theses and Dissertations
This research presents a methodology to evaluate the quality of a system's architecture using principles drawn from Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) and resulting in a Value-Driven Enterprise Architecture Score (VDEA-Score). This is an overall numerical architecture quality score useful to a system's management team to identify the advantages and disadvantages of a system design and associated architecture documentation or to track its quality across discrete evaluation epochs. This effort determined which aspects of the architecture are most valuable to the stakeholder in the areas of (1) the system effectiveness values (quality of the instantiated system being represented and its ability to …