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1210 -    ..
1211 - Summary/Objective
1212 -
121201 - Follow up ref SDS 22 0000, ref SDS 21 0000.
121202 -
121203 - Bill submits an article he received on changes in Navy procurement to
121204 - adjust for reduced budgets. A professional event held at a "Center for
121205 - Excellence" aligns with information on difficulty organizations have
121206 - making real improvements in management.  The article says procurement
121207 - managers have greater authority and flexibility to exercise judgement,
121208 - which was reported in 1994. ref SDS 0 3492  No examples are offered on
121209 - how this improves the work.  Neither is there mention of budgeting for
121210 - testing new ideas.
121211 -
121212 -    [On 981005 received letter from Bill. ref SDS 37 0000]
121213 -
121214 -
121215 -
1213 -
1214 -
1215 - Progress
1216 -
121601 - Received ref DRT 1 0000 from Bill Benkavitch.
121602 -
121603 - He responds to the copy sent to him of the letter to USACE, ref DIP 6
121604 - 0000, on the meeting in Washington D.C. submitted on 980721. ref SDS
121605 - 31 0000
121606 -
121607 - Bill submits an article from the magazine
121608 -
121609 -                         National Defense
121610 -
121611 -      ...from the July/August 1998 issue on page 30, entitled...
121612 -
121613 -                      The 'Fiscal Facts of Life'
121614 -                     Can Make, Break Navy Programs
121615 -
121616 - Bill does not comment on the article.
121617 -
121618 -
121619 -  ..
121620 - Fiscal Contraction of Military Budgets and Programs Continuing
121621 -
121622 - The main point the article seems to convey is that military budgets
121623 - are now expected to continue on a decline. ref DRT 1 2975
121624 -
121625 - Examples of capital programs that have been abruptly eliminated are...
121626 -
121627 -     •  Navy's proposed arsenal ship.
121628 -
121629 -     •  Navy attack, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare aircraft
121630 -
121631 - The Defense acquisition system is being consolidated. The author
121632 - reports this may strengthen remaining programs that have not yet been
121633 - eliminated. ref DRT 1 4199
121634 -
121635 - Strategies and practices for agency program managers and vendors alike
121636 - were explored through procurement "wargaming" that took place during a
121637 - recent conference at the Navy Acquisition Center of Excellence
121638 - sponsored by the ACE and NDIA. ref DRT 1 3789
121639 -
121640 -
121641 -      ..
121642 -     Research Failing in Organizations
121643 -     Centers of Excellence Have Poor Track Record
121644 -
121645 -     "Centers of Excellence" are new names for research to test and
121646 -     develop new ideas and methods that advance the competency of an
121647 -     organization toward "excellence."
121648 -
121649 -     It would be expected that large organizations in particular are
121650 -     investigating new methods to avoid the trap of being overtaken by
121651 -     a changing business environment while relying on conventional
121652 -     management practices.
121653 -
121654 -     Andy Grove at Intel recommends, in his book "Only the paranoid
121655 -     survive" reviewed on 980307, that organizations experiment to
121656 -     discover the value of new ideas, ref SDS 29 3416, before being
121657 -     forced to adopt new methods due to "strategic inflection points."
121658 -     ref SDS 30 3151
121659 -
121660 -
121661 -      ..
121662 -     Air Force Could Not Review Communication Metrics
121663 -
121664 -     The Air Force has a unit at Wright-Patterson AFB...
121665 -
121666 -               U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (USAFIT)
121667 -
121668 -        ...where on 970806 inquiry was made, ref SDS 12 0275, on
121669 -        solving a critical management and procurement problem AFIT
121670 -        identified 20 years earlier. ref SDS 10 0611
121671 -
121672 -
121673 -      ..
121674 -     Intel's Research Facility was Disbanded
121675 -
121676 -     There is probably no organization more flushed with funds for
121677 -     research than Intel.  On 960103 consideration was made for Intel's
121678 -     research facility in Oregon to review Communication Metrics. see,
121679 -     ref SDS 3 8349  However, the research facility was closed due to
121680 -     ineffectiveness. ref SDS 3 3884
121681 -
121682 -
121683 -      ..
121684 -     Intel Did Not Have Bandwidth to Research Communication Metrics
121685 -
121686 -     On 960507 Intel was given opportunity to research Communication
121687 -     Metrics. ref SDS 6 0000
121688 -
121689 -     On 960523 David could not find interest in this research at Intel.
121690 -     ref SDS 7 4933
121691 -
121692 -     On 970603 David reported Intel has management problems that are
121693 -     solved by Communication Metrics. ref SDS 9 5803
121694 -
121695 -     There is no information on why there is not enough time, money and
121696 -     bandwith at a firm with record profits to investigate the solution
121697 -     to serious management problems when the leader of the firm urges
121698 -     investigation of "crummy" ideas. ref SDS 29 3416
121699 -
121700 -
121701 -      ..
121702 -     US Army Corps of Engineers Research unable to Support Research
121703 -
121704 -     On 971104 Dr. Moonja Kim, in charge of researching management
121705 -     improvement for USACE, reported that Communication Metrics "sounds
121706 -     great" based on report issued by USACE San Francisco District. see
121707 -     ref SDS 25 3330
121708 -
121709 -     Dr. Kim identified areas of immediate need. ref SDS 25 1720
121710 -
121711 -     On 980803 Max Blodgett at USACE San Francisco District said the
121712 -     Communication Metrics web site improves management as described in
121713 -     the USACE report on Communciation Metrics issued on 970328. see
121714 -     ref SDS 32 5141  He said Communication Metrics is an important
121715 -     achievement in advancing management work. ref SDS 32 2973
121716 -
121717 -     He cited a meeting he was attending on 980803 that required
121718 -     Communication Metrics support. ref SDS 32 4192
121719 -
121720 -     Yet, USACE is unable to research the application and value of
121721 -     Communication Metrics.
121722 -
121723 -
121724 -      ..
121725 -     Centers of Excellence are Industry Trend without Substance
121726 -
121727 -     On 970822 reviewed article proposing research and support
121728 -     activities be centralized. ref SDS 13 8009
121729 -
121730 -  ..
121731 - Feel Good Management Empowers Talking and Listening
121732 - Cookbook Reform Replaced by Trusting Procurement Managers
121733 -
121734 - The article relates changes in policy that lets procurement managers
121735 - exercise judgement instead of using express criteria instructed by DOD
121736 - HQ. ref DRT 1 0842
121737 -
121738 - No examples are offered showing the differences in process or work
121739 - practice; however, the reason given for trending away from "cookbook"
121740 - management, which is another expression for "command and control,"
121741 - (see POIMS. ref OF 1 1113) is given as huge cost overruns on programs.
121742 -
121743 -      [On 980815 article says foreign policy "Intelligence" failures
121744 -      stem from too much information, not enough understanding; see the
121745 -      record at. ref SDS 36 1173]
121746 -
121747 -         Can Navy procurement be improved by adding intelligence to the
121748 -         work so that managers have better understanding, as well?
121749 -
121750 - The authors say the new rules permit "good ideas" to be tried.
121751 -
121752 - This reflects Andy Grove's book reviewed on 980307. ref SDS 29 4025
121753 - However, Grove also cites the challenge of finding the balance between
121754 - fostering innovation and maintaining discipline. ref SDS 28 6695
121755 -
121756 -       ..
121757 -      Background on Reducing Control is Not Encouraging
121758 -
121759 -      On 940722 reviewed article that cited DOD policy to reduce
121760 -      regulation and permit greater latitude, called "empowerment," to
121761 -      local commanders. ref SDS 2 7488
121762 -
121763 -      On 960117 Jim Caudell spoke to PMI's monthly dinner meeting about
121764 -      changes in DOD procurement policies. ref SDS 4 7799
121765 -
121766 -      On 970707 reviewed article published in 1975 by the USAFIT that
121767 -      showed cost and schedule growth result from loss of control of
121768 -      information, called "entropy." ref SDS 10 0108
121769 -
121770 -         The question arises that since there was no control to begin
121771 -         with, how can less of it improve results?
121772 -
121773 -      On 970603 Dave Vannier related poor management at Intel using
121774 -      methods that eschew "cookbook" management methods. ref SDS 9 5803
121775 -
121776 -      On 970710 review of article by Intel says "empowerment" to foster
121777 -      innovation impairs good management. ref SDS 11 0000
121778 -
121779 -      On 971129 empowerment at Intel did not permit trying
121780 -      Communication Metrics. ref SDS 26 3256
121781 -
121782 -      On 971202 procurement managers at USACE indicated they did not
121783 -      know how to use "empowerment" or otherwise exercise authorized
121784 -      flexibility to test better management methods. ref SDS 27 2409
121785 -
121786 -
121787 - The article says that training has been increased under the new
121788 - policy. ref DRT 1 3178
121789 -
121790 -      This invites the question about what training will be provided?
121791 -
121792 -      If the problem with procurement is information entropy, then
121793 -      managers need to know how to maintain control of information, and
121794 -      this requires metrics.
121795 -
121796 -
121797 -  ..
121798 - Procurement Program Stability is Less Certain
121799 -
121800 - The article makes a serious point that the longevity of weapon and
121801 - other systems is problematical in an environment of changing defense
121802 - threats and budget priorities. ref DRT 1 0127
121803 -
121804 - There is no discussion of the actual defense threat, other than to say
121805 - it is no longer 10' tall.  Some argue (not in the article) that a
121806 - multiplicity of 2' tall threats around the globe comprise a more
121807 - complex threat than the previous bi-polar environment that dominated
121808 - the past 50 years.
121809 -
121810 -
121811 -  ..
121812 - Bold Thinking Needed
121813 -
121814 - The article cites a call for bold thinking by procurement managers. in
121815 - undertaking a "war game" on implementing new procedures, with the
121816 - promise of learning new insights. ref DRT 1 8080
121817 -
121818 - Communication Metrics offers a new direction...
121819 -
121820 -
121821 -                  http://www.welchco.com
121822 -
121823 -
121824 - The seminar seems to place reliance on talking and listening for
121825 - discovering insight, ref DRT 1 7089, which is subject to error under
121826 - the AFIT study on information entropy. ref SDS 10 0108  There is no
121827 - talk in the article on the role of "intelligence" to organize, align,
121828 - analyse, and summarize, as related in the POIMS paper. ref OF 1 0582
121829 -
121830 - "Stifled budgets" and "outsourcing" are described as new issues unlike
121831 - anything that has ever been seen before. ref DRT 1 8521
121832 -
121833 -     This seems overstated in light of base closures and the reduction
121834 -     in force across the board in the military, since the demise of the
121835 -     Soviet threat in 1989.
121836 -
121837 -     Wasn't there a reduction in force after the Revolution in 1781?
121838 -
121839 -     There was a reduction in force after the civil war, WWI, and WWII.
121840 -
121841 -     There should be ample history to guide the current climate of
121842 -     reduced military procurement.
121843 -
121844 -     On 980803 Max Blodgett worried that managers are less capable of
121845 -     using reading and writing. ref SDS 33 4192  Review on 940609
121846 -     showed Henry Kissinger's concern about "Alice in Wonderland"
121847 -     management. ref SDS 1 4238
121848 -
121849 -
121850 -    [On 981005 received letter from Bill. ref SDS 37 0000]
121851 -
121852 -
121853 -
121854 -
1219 -
1220 -