Stakeholder characteristics in rapid acquisition

Abstract

The number of Joint Urgent Operational Needs has exploded with the Global War on Terror and the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. The challenge to smaller urgent programs is the programs are not large enough to obtain top priority for all stakeholders. Even if the entire stakeholder landscape agreed to the urgency of the requirement not all stakeholders can or will increase their urgency the same amount. Four critical stakeholder attributes are examined in rapid acquisition: Cachet, Advocacy, Operational Need and Optempo. A method of dynamic tracking of these four stakeholder attributes is presented along with data from three rapid acquisition programs confirming the importance of Cachet, Advocacy and Operational Need to the success of rapid acquisition programs.