Public sector enterprise resource planning
| Published date | 01 October 2003 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570310489179 |
| Pages | 471-483 |
| Date | 01 October 2003 |
| Author | Thomas R. Gulledge,Rainer A. Sommer |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Public sector enterprise resource planning
Thomas R. Gulledge
School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Rainer A. Sommer
School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
1. Introduction
The Department of Defense (DoD) enterprise
is large and complex. The largest business
process is manage defense acquisition, with
manage defense installations being second.
However, the two processes are different in
structure. For example, the execution of
acquisition functions is unique, with no
comparable private sector business process.
Other business processes, including manage
defense installations, are not particularly
unusual, with functions that have direct
analogies to those in the private sector.
We assert that the DoD will eventually
change the way that it manages the
non-unique business processes. The
declining resource base will not support the
existing infrastructure but, even if resources
were plentiful, there would still be strong
incentives to change. New IT-enabled process
management methodologies have been
implemented world-wide, and organizations
are achieving enhanced efficiency and
effectiveness through the use of these new
management approaches. Since 2000, these
new approaches have been spreading to the
public sector, and the DoD is an early
implementer and a leader for other public
organizations.
Appropriate models and systems have been
implemented in the private sector, and we
argue throughout this paper that the DoD can
learn from these private sector experiences.
Private sector implementations have led to
competitive advantage, better management
control, and cost reductions. While DoD
incentives and performance measures are
different from the private sector, better
management control and cost reductions are
certainly public sector objectives.
We describe in detail how private sector
organizations are integrating their business
processes, and we draw comparisons with the
DoD experience. We describe a public sector
management model that is consistent with
private sector models, and we demonstrate
how the model should be implemented. The
discussion covers all aspects of the new
private sector management paradigm,
ranging from strategic planning to
information system implementation. We
provide details on the implementation steps,
and make suggestions on selecting DoD and
contractor teams for implementing a new
way for managing the public enterprise.
This paper covers significant material in
limited pages. It draws heavily on our
personal experiences working for the US
DoD. However, it also draws on our
experiences in working for private sector
organizations, including interviews with
senior executives in some of the largest
corporations in the world. We begin the
discussion by making a case for why the DoD
must consider a new approach for enterprise
management, and then we move directly to
the management and technology models.
2. Change is inevitable
The following quote sets the stage for this
section:
The mission support and services provided to
our forces at base level are an extensive
business enterprise. This enterprise is on the
path to a critical failure unless DoD rethinks
installation management. Before we consider
making changes at the margin, we need a new
lens through which to view our bases (Milnes,
1997).
The consensus is that there is not a
coordinated and integrated view of how to
manage DoD business processes, with
installations being just one example.
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[ 471 ]
Industrial Management &
Data Systems
103/7 [2003] 471-483
#MCB UP Limited
[ISSN 0263-5577]
[DOI 10.1108/02635570310489179]
Keywords
Resources,
Resource management,
Public sector organizations,
Computer software,
United States of America
Abstract
The management of the US
Department of Defense (DoD)
enterprise must change. Years of
under-funding have led to a wide
gap between enterprise support
requirements and resources.
Private sector firms have faced
similar choices. This paper shows
how the public enterprise can be
changed. Our hypothesis is that
private sector implementations of
standard software will lead to
increased effectiveness and
efficiency in public sector
organizations. Sufficient detail is
provided on how to transition to a
modern integrated public sector
enterprise, and the steps for
implementing such a project are
outlined, following standard
private sector implementation
practices. To explain the problem
and solution, the DoD installation
management enterprise is used as
an example.
This research was
sponsored in part by Russell
E. Milnes, Director of
Installation Management,
Office of the Secretary of
Defense (Industrial Affairs
and Installations).
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