Issue 119 - 05 Oct 98
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DoN ACQUISITION PROCESS CONTINUES TO IMPROVE
The Department of the Navy (DoN) Acquisition work force provided over eight thousand thoughts and ideas in response to the Department of Defense Acquisition Reform (AR) Week III Survey. Respondents included military and civilian personnel, and industry.
The survey results provide indicators of Acquisition Reform effectiveness from the workforce perspective. Comparison data from the 1996 and 1997 DoN survey shows positive trends.
- Acquisition Reform is improving the acquisition process. Ninety-two percent of
the respondents agree that there has been at least some improvement; seventy-five percent indicated more than just a little improvement. On a five point scale, this represents nearly a twelve percent improvement from the 1996 survey. The chart below illustrates the shift in opinion over three years.
- Teams continue to improve the acquisition process.
- AR Week is an effective method of team training and should be repeated in one to two years.
- All elements of AR training/guidance are achieving some level of effectiveness. Survey results reinforce the need for continued emphasis in the area of education and training.
This year's survey asked respondents to provide their opinions to these four open-ended questions:
- Provide one new idea that would improve the acquisition process in your area of work. Among the responses received, two thousand of the ideas and thoughts (or eight percent) focused primarily on the areas of Education and Training, Funding Issues, and Information Technology.
- What do you see as the major barrier to improving the acquisition process? Of the two thousand responses received, the two top categories receiving responses were Resistance to Change and Funding Issues categories
- What are your single most important recommendations to reduce cycle time in the Acquisition process? Of the more than twelve hundred responses, 188/9.7% dealt with requirement issues.
- What are your single most important recommendations to reduce total ownership cost? Over thirty percent of the twelve hundred ideas and thoughts provided in response to this question focused on Acquisition Processes.
Next Steps
Senior leaders throughout the DoN acquisition community are being briefed on the results of the AR Week survey, including a focused presentation to the Navy Acquisition Reform Senior Oversight Council (NARSOC) on October 8, 1998. Organizational, functional and ad-hoc groups will address key recommendations and ways to overcome identified barriers for report back to DUSD(AR) in early 1999. Throughout the coming year the survey data from the acquisition work force will continue to serve as a guide for new AR efforts at every level of the DoN.
Find Out More
Copies of the DoN AR survey results are available through the DoN Acquisition Reform Team Working Group (ARTWG). This team has copies of the survey briefing and a CD containing all DoN data in a searchable database format. Survey information is also available on the Communications section of the Acquisition Reform Website [www.ar.navy.mil].
