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GAO's continuing reviews of the acquisition workforce, focusing on the Department of Defense (DOD); the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Energy, and Health and Human Services; the General Services Administration; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, indicate that some of the government's largest procurement operations are not run efficiently. GAO found that requirements are not clearly defined, prices and alternatives are not fully considered, or contracts are not adequately overseen. The ongoing technological revolution requires a workforce with new knowledge, skills, and abilities, and the nature of acquisition is changing from routine simple buys toward more complex acquisitions and new business practices. DOD has adopted multidisciplinary and multifunctional definitions of their acquisition workforce, but the civilian agencies have not. DOD and the civilian agencies reviewed have developed specific training requirements for their acquisition workforce and mechanisms to track the training of acquisition personnel. All of the agencies reviewed said they had sufficient funding to provide current required core training for their acquisition workforce, but some expressed concerns about funding training for future requirements and career development, particularly because of budget cuts made recently at the Defense Acquisition University.
Written for both students and practitioners, Management of Defense Acquisition Projects enables the reader to understand the broad range of disciplines and activities that must be integrated in order to achieve successful acquisition outcomes. This second edition features significant updates throughout, and totally new chapters.
A guide to defense systems analysis by experts who have worked on systems that range from air defense to space defense. The Department of Defense and the military continually grapple with complex scientific, engineering, and technological problems. Defense systems analysis offers a way to reach a clearer understanding of how to approach and think about complex problems. It guides analysts in defining the question, capturing previous work in the area, assessing the principal issues, and understanding how they are linked. The goal of defense systems analysis is not necessarily to find a particular solution but to provide a roadmap to a solution, or an understanding of the relative value of alternative solutions. In this book, experts in the field—all of them with more than twenty years of experience—offer insights, advice, and concrete examples to guide practitioners in the art of defense systems analysis. The book describes general issues in systems analysis and analysis protocols in specific defense areas. It offers a useful overview of the process, a discussion of different venues, and practical advice running a study and reporting its results. It discusses red teaming (the search for vulnerabilities that might be exploited by an adversary) and its complement, blue teaming (the search for solutions to known shortcomings). It describes real-world defense systems analysis for both traditional and nontraditional areas, including air defense and ballistic missile defense systems, bioterrorism defense, space warfare, and interplanetary communications. Perspectives on Defense Systems Analysis is a very readable resource for analysts and engineers in industry, government, and research.
The effective use of data science - the science and technology of extracting value from data - improves, enhances, and strengthens acquisition decision-making and outcomes. Using data science to support decision making is not new to the defense acquisition community; its use by the acquisition workforce has enabled acquisition and thus defense successes for decades. Still, more consistent and expanded application of data science will continue improving acquisition outcomes, and doing so requires coordinated efforts across the defense acquisition system and its related communities and stakeholders. Central to that effort is the development, growth, and sustainment of data science capabilities across the acquisition workforce. At the request of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, Empowering the Defense Acquisition Workforce to Improve Mission Outcomes Using Data Science assesses how data science can improve acquisition processes and develops a framework for training and educating the defense acquisition workforce to better exploit the application of data science. This report identifies opportunities where data science can improve acquisition processes, the relevant data science skills and capabilities necessary for the acquisition workforce, and relevant models of data science training and education.
The riveting story of the American scientists, tinkerers, and nerds who solved one of the biggest puzzles of World War II--and developed one of the most powerful weapons of the war.​ 12 Seconds of Silence is the remarkable, lost story of how a rag tag group of American scientists overcame one of the toughest problems of World War II: Shooting things out of the sky. Working in a secretive organization known as Section T, a team of physicists, engineers, and everyday Joes and Janes created one of the world's first "smart weapons"--the proximity fuse. The tiny gadget allowed an artillery shell to "know" when to explode to bring down an aircraft. Against overwhelming odds and in a race against time, mustering every scrap of resource, ingenuity, and insight, the scientists of Section T would eventually save countless lives, rescue the city of London from the onslaught of a Nazi superweapon, and help bring about the Axis defeat. A holy grail sought after by Allied and Axis powers alike, the fuse ranks with the atomic bomb as one of the most revolutionary technologies of the Second World War. Until now, its tale was largely untold. For fans of Erik Larson and Ben Macintyre, set amidst the fog of espionage, dueling spies, and the dawn of an age when science would determine the fate of the world, 12 Seconds of Silence is a tribute to the extraordinary wartime mobilization of American science and the ultimate can-do story.
Wall Street Journal Bestseller From the acclaimed author of Turn the Ship Around!, former US Navy Captain David Marquet, comes a radical new playbook for empowering your team to make better decisions and take greater ownership. You might imagine that an effective leader is someone who makes quick, intelligent decisions, gives inspiring speeches, and issues clear orders to their team so they can execute a plan to achieve your organization's goals. Unfortunately, David Marquet argues, that's an outdated model of leadership that just doesn't work anymore. As a leader in today's networked, information-dense business climate, you don't have full visibility into your organization or the ground reality of your operating environment. In order to harness the eyes, ears, and minds of your people, you need to foster a climate of collaborative experimentation that encourages people to speak up when they notice problems and work together to identify and test solutions. Too many leaders fall in love with the sound of their own voice, and wind up dictating plans and digging in their heels when problems begin to emerge. Even when you want to be a more collaborative leader, you can undermine your own efforts by defaulting to command-and-control language we've inherited from the industrial era. It's time to ditch the industrial age playbook of leadership. In Leadership is Language, you'll learn how choosing your words can dramatically improve decision-making and execution on your team. Marquet outlines six plays for all leaders, anchored in how you use language: • Control the clock, don't obey the clock: Pre-plan decision points and give your people the tools they need to hit pause on a plan of action if they notice something wrong. • Collaborate, don't coerce: As the leader, you should be the last one to offer your opinion. Rather than locking your team into binary responses ("Is this a good plan?"), allow them to answer on a scale ("How confident are you about this plan?") • Commit, don't comply: Rather than expect your team to comply with specific directions, explain your overall goals, and get their commitment to achieving it one piece at a time. • Complete, not continue: If every day feels like a repetition of the last, you're doing something wrong. Articulate concrete plans with a start and end date to align your team. • Improve, don't prove: Ask your people to improve on plans and processes, rather than prove that they can meet fixed goals or deadlines. You'll face fewer cut corners and better long-term results. • Connect, don't conform: Flatten hierarchies in your organization and connect with your people to encourage them to contribute to decision-making. In his last book, Turn the Ship Around!, Marquet told the incredible story of abandoning command-and-control leadership on his submarine and empowering his crew to turn the worst performing submarine to the best performer in the fleet. Now, with Leadership is Language he gives businesspeople the tools they need to achieve such transformational leadership in their organizations.