Seven years of U.S. defense acquisition research: Analysis of proposals and projects
| Published date | 01 March 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-14-04-2014-B001 |
| Pages | 451-472 |
| Date | 01 March 2014 |
| Author | Karey L. Shaffer,Keith F. Snider |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management,Government,Economics,Public Finance/economics,Texation/public revenue |
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT, VOLUME 14, ISSUE 4, 451-472 WINTER 2014
SEVEN YEARS OF U.S. DEFENSE ACQUISITION RESEARCH: ANALYSIS
OF PROPOSALS AND PROJECTS
Karey L. Shaffer and Keith F. Snider*
ABSTRACT. In 2006, the U.S. Defense Acquisition Executive approved a
program at the Naval Postgraduate School to solicit, evaluate, and fund
proposals for innovative and scholarly acquisition research. This paper
presents an exploratory analysis of proposals from 2007 to the present. It
seeks to provide an understanding of the types and sources of research
proposals, and the extent to which the program’s goal has been achieved.
Cluster and trend analyses classify and examine the data according to
several key aspects, such as: topical area (e.g., contracting, logistics);
research type (e.g., exploratory, hypothesis testing); research design (e.g.,
case study, experiment); and type of analysis (e.g., comparative, statistical).
The results show positive trends, but the number of institutions with interest
in defense acquisition remains low, suggesting that it remains a limited
niche research topic.
INTRODUCTION
In 2005, Jack Gansler and Bill Lucyshyn of the University of
Maryland’s Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise made
compelling arguments for the need for a focused program of research
in defense acquisition (Gansler & Lucyshyn, 2005). Noting (1) the
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* Karey L. Shaffer, MBA, is a Research Associate and Program Manager,
Graduate School of Business & Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate
School in Monterey, California. Her research interests are in defense
acquisition. Keith F. Snider, Ph.D., is a Professor and Associate Dean for
Instruction, Graduate School of Business & Public Policy, Naval
Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His research interests are in
defense acquisition management and policy.
Copyright © 2014 by PrAcademics Press
452 SHAFFER & SNIDER
large resource investments typically consumed by military
procurement; (2) recurring problems experienced by large weapons
programs in terms of cost overruns, schedule delays, and
performance shortfalls, despite numerous reform initiatives; (3) the
rapidly changing political, technological, and economic aspects of the
world’s defense environment; and (4) the relative lack of scholarly
research devoted to these topics, Gansler and Lucyshyn called for a
“disciplined basic and applied research program [as] the only proven
way to develop new theories and then use them to solve specific,
practical questions within [the defense acquisition] knowledge
domain” (Gansler & Lucyshyn, 2005).
Partly in response to this call, the Acquisition Executive for the
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) in 2006 approved a program to
support relevant and innovative proposals for acquisition research
projects. The Naval Postgraduate School’s Acquisition Research
Program (ARP), which had been in operation since 2003, was
designated as the executive agent for this new program. Beginning in
2007 and each year since, the ARP has issued a call for research
proposals, led a review and selection process, and coordinated
awards of funding to support the approved research projects. As of
December 2013, 319 proposals have been reviewed with 128
selected for award.
In this paper, we undertake an exploratory analysis of the
proposals and awards that have been generated by this program in
order to understand the nature of the larger scholarly environment
that may support defense acquisition research. Specifically, we seek
an understanding of the content of the proposals and their sources;
that is, “What sort of research has been proposed, and who has
proposed it?” We ask questions such as the following: What are the
specific topics in which researchers have interest? What research
designs, methodologies, and data are employed? What universities
and other institutions have interest in acquisition research? The
answers will provide information on the breadth and depth of the
capacity for defense acquisition research, as well as indications as to
whether the research program is accomplishing its objectives.
Ultimately, the usefulness of the ARP and similar programs must be
assessed in the extent to which they contribute to improvements in
defense acquisition, but of course such assessments will not be
possible for several years.
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