2026-09-18T18:37:41Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/708262026-06-06T01:05:05Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Jayakanth Srinivasan.
Ziegler, Dustin P
System Design and Management Program.
System Design and Management Program.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division
2012-05-15T21:15:36Z
2012-05-15T21:15:36Z
2012
2012
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70826
793200133
Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-155).
In 2010, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) spent more than $35 billion on information systems development and sustainment, with nearly $7 billion to defense business systems investments alone. It is not surprising given the scale of expenditure and complexity of the enterprise that its track record on business systems investments has not been great. Indeed, the DoD's investment management practices have been the target of many studies identifying critical concerns with how the taxpayers' dollars are spent. The get-well plan, according to these same studies, is to apply "industry best practices" to achieve the same results. Yet this view fails to adequately account for the underlying issues that give rise to these symptoms. Mistrust and confusion in governance decision structures, strategic goal misalignment, externally driven metrics that incentivize the wrong behavior, and a culture of guarding rather than sharing information were among the dominant challenges identified through stakeholder interviews. Cross-cutting issues included language barriers between the Services and Corporate DoD that impede knowledge integration and complicate performance measurement. These systemic foundational problems are deeply rooted in the nature of this public administration network and in the cultures of its strongly independent member institutions. Resolving these dysfunctional characteristics requires more than a transformation "playbook" of best practice initiatives. This research sets the trajectory for meaningful progress in defense business systems investment planning and management by outlining the fundamental changes that must occur, anchored by a more robust and transparent governance framework.
by Dustin P. Ziegler.
S.M. in Engineering and Management
167 p.
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by
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http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Engineering Systems Division.
System Design and Management Program.
Foundations of a defense digital platform : business systems governance in the Department of Defense
Business systems governance in the Department of Defense
Thesis
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Publication
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<Abstract>In 2010, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) spent more than $35 billion on information systems development and sustainment, with nearly $7 billion to defense business systems investments alone. It is not surprising given the scale of expenditure and complexity of the enterprise that its track record on business systems investments has not been great. Indeed, the DoD's investment management practices have been the target of many studies identifying critical concerns with how the taxpayers' dollars are spent. The get-well plan, according to these same studies, is to apply "industry best practices" to achieve the same results. Yet this view fails to adequately account for the underlying issues that give rise to these symptoms. Mistrust and confusion in governance decision structures, strategic goal misalignment, externally driven metrics that incentivize the wrong behavior, and a culture of guarding rather than sharing information were among the dominant challenges identified through stakeholder interviews. Cross-cutting issues included language barriers between the Services and Corporate DoD that impede knowledge integration and complicate performance measurement. These systemic foundational problems are deeply rooted in the nature of this public administration network and in the cultures of its strongly independent member institutions. Resolving these dysfunctional characteristics requires more than a transformation "playbook" of best practice initiatives. This research sets the trajectory for meaningful progress in defense business systems investment planning and management by outlining the fundamental changes that must occur, anchored by a more robust and transparent governance framework.</Abstract>
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