Acquisition Program Teamwork and Performance Seen Anew: Exposing the Interplay of Architecture and Behaviors in Complex Defense Projects

Abstract

The premise of the study is that program performance can be improved through focused architecture design, including attention to interactions, information flows, decision authority, and change across interfaces in the architecture. It frames complex engineering development programs as sociotechnical systems with program performance driven by interpersonal and inter-organizational dynamics as well as technical system interdependencies. It attempts to address the question of why performance in complex development programs has not improved significantly in the last several decades, despite the development and application of many new and sophisticated tools for managing these programs. The framework is grounded and validated using a case study of the Navy's Acoustic-Rapid COTS Insertion (ARCI) project that spanned multiple technical systems, organizations, disciplines. The conclusion discusses the resulting measurement framework and provides examples of the application of the framework to identify management control levers for design, engineering, test and evaluation, fielding and sustainment of complex engineering projects.