Acquisition Risks in a World of Joint Capabilities: A Study of Interdependency Complexity

Abstract

Like most contemporary organizations, the Department of Defense (DoD) is under increasing pressure to reap the synergistic advantages of collaborative efforts across branches and services. Starting in the early 2000s, under former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the transformation to the joint warfighting paradigm at the Defense Department has been in progress now for over a decade. As a consequence of these new defense realities, the integration of capabilities across a range of different MDAPs becomes a crucial factor for success on the battlefield. But, in doing so, it widens the number of stakeholders and requirements that must be met. Accommodating joint requirements also means that fiscal resources will derive from a wider set of sources, with all of the political and financial complexity they portend. In short, the complex needs of combatants for interoperable systems leads to the demand for material solutions-weapons systems-that are capable of enabling joint operations in the battlefield. This research examines DoD acquisition from the context of a network of interrelated programs that exchange and share resources for the purpose of establishing joint capabilities. The research focuses on the joint space of major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs): the space where transactions form interdependencies among MDAP programs. The research is especially salient because, to date, little is known about the risks associated with interdependent activities.