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DAU exports PMT-352 to South Region: Huntsville first region to test exportability features of DAU's new level III certification course - Acquisition Education,

Program Manager - September 1, 2002

For the first time since 1971, DAU's Advanced Program Management Course, now renamed the Program Management Office Course (PMOC), is no longer offered solely at Fort Belvoir, Va. On Aug. 19, 24 students at the DAU South Region in Huntsville, Ala., became the first DAU students to attend the course in their own back yard. The South Region numbers about 27,000 people who are part of the DoD Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) workforce that DAU is responsible for training.

Jim McCullough, Dean of the DAU South Region, has been on the job since October of 2001. McCullough, along with other DAU leaders, opened the South Region campus for business only last February. He anticipates a steady stream of students eager to attend PMT-352 at the South Region.

"The current DAU transformation is the most comprehensive re-engineering of DoD Acquisition, Technology and Logistics [AT&L] training since the Defense Systems Management College was established in 1971," McCullough said. "PMT-352 represents a major culture shift of one of the pillars of this training. We are now delivering to the regions training once reserved to Fort Belvoir, in a centralized facility with instructor-led discussion and lecture curricula."

Students now get all of the preliminary training that was lecture-oriented in online courses, McCullough noted. When they come to the resident portion, they "dive into" an intensive, short (six weeks vs. 14 weeks), case-based learning environment. Students, he said, can get the same or better education and not be away from their jobs as long.

"Generally, students will be local or within driving distance, and costs will be lower," McCullough emphasized. "This means we will teach more classes for the same money--better for AT&L, the student, their organization, and less impact on the student's family."

First South Region DGL

Tom Harrison was the first Distinguished Guest Lecturer for Huntsville's initial offering of PMT-352. Currently Harrison is the General Dynamics Decision Systems Huntsville Business Unit Manager. His business unit is the prime contractor for the U.S. Army's First Digitized Division Tactical Operations Centers (TOCs) as well as the Army's Tactical Airspace Integration System (TAIS). These systems are managed by the Army's PM TOCs and Product Manager, Air Traffic Control, PM Aviation Systems, respectively. A retired Army colonel, Harrison is well qualified to speak from both the industry and government perspectives on DoD's acquisition process (see p. 26).

Speaking to the Huntsville class on Aug. 26, he divided his remarks into several areas to address his perspectives on contractor and government program management views and to provide topics that would generate discussion. Harrison began his comments by talking about contractor activity and motivation.

What Contractors Do and Why

Harrison spoke candidly to the class of 24 students from what he termed "The Harrison Perspective," best described as "some of the things I wish I had known about industry when I was in your shoes." He offered practical, relevant, timely advice to the students, four of whom were on their way to product/project manager positions immediately following completion of PMT-352. Harrison initially focused on what motivates contractors, beginning with an overview of cost, schedule, performance, and financials.

COST, SCHEDULE, PERFORMANCE, AND FINANCIALS

Harrison described cost, schedule, and performance from government and contractor perspectives. All three are important to the government, he said, from an execution perspective. But performance, Harrison maintained, is by far the most important. For the most part, he believes in the truism that if you get performance fight, the vast majority of the time you won't have a cost problem, and you won't have a schedule problem.

Harrison said that cost, schedule, and performance are also critically important to industry "I've got to get those three right. As a contractor, I am very, very, interested in cost, schedule, and performance," he emphasized, "but to stay in business I must also focus on financials." Industry, he said, is extremely focused internally on financials. Harrison sees his role as having a contract with the government for cost, schedule, and performance, and a contract with General Dynamics, his employer, for financials.

EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT

Harrison spoke to the use of Earned Value Management by contractors, not just in response to government requirements, but as a management tool for industry. He explained the importance of Earned Value Management to contractors as a performance metric.

MATRIXED ORGANIZATION

Industry is heavily matrixed, according to Harrison. For those working in a government program or project office, Harrison recommended awareness that the work that's going to be done on a government program is going to be done primarily by a specific group of people who are charging directly to the program.

A CLOSER LOOK AT FINANCIALS

Bookings, sales, and margin are very important to industry, he said. Bookings are the key to establishing a backlog of work that will allow the contractor to remain in business over the course of time, he explained. And contractors work off backlog via sales to make margin.

Cash flow is the product of astute financial management and is very important to industry. Financial data generated at the lowest contractor levels feeds reporting requirements that drive formal financial statements, meaning that accuracy and timeliness are paramount. Harrison recommended that government project management personnel familiarize themselves with their contractors' systems as a way to become attuned to what motivates the contractor.

GROWING NEW BUSINESS

Contractors continually look to the future to develop their businesses and create value for customers, shareholders, and employees. Business development includes business intelligence, and Harrison discussed his contractor view of requirements definition, independent research and development, and technology demonstrations and how they interrelate during the business intelligence process. He reminded the group that any discussions with contractors "count" and may influence contractor decisions.

RELATING EXECUTION TO FINANCIALS TO GROWTH

"There is a very tight relationship between execution; the cost, schedule, and performance piece; the financial piece--bookings, sales, margin, and cash flow; and the growing of new business," Harrison said. "Most of the folks you would deal with on the contractor's side are looking for a sweet spot where those things come together--the ability to execute the program, to meet the financial numbers, and to grow the business for the future."

TOPICS TO EXCITE/INCITE

As a prelude to questions and discussion, Harrison selected four topics that were described as "exciters" or "inciters" for discussion. Based on the interchange that followed, they were good choices. His format first defined the topic for consensus purposes, and then he provided his views of the subject.

Harrison began by describing general and administrative (G&A) costs and bid and proposal (B&P) costs, and highlighting items that he had seen cause confusion in the past, including annualization of rates.

Second, he talked about Evolutionary Acquisition (consensus definition--"an acquisition strategy that defines, develops, produces, or acquires and fields an initial hardware or software increment or block of operational capability"), acknowledging it as a "smart way to do business in a cost-constrained environment."

The third topic was Spiral Development (consensus definition--"an iterative process for developing a defined set of capabilities within one build, while acknowledging that the ultimate user need may not be fully defined at the beginning of development"). Harrison cautioned the students to "be careful what you ask for" with respect to spiral development, emphasizing that the spiral approach should fit the program.

The fourth topic was the use of support contractors. Harrison asked the PMT-352 class to focus on the product provided by the support contractor, just as they would on the prime contractor's deliverables. "Weigh the benefit [of the support contractor] versus the cost," was Harrison's recommendation.

Discussion

Using the "exciter/inciter" topics as a springboard, several questions on contractor perspective were asked and discussed in interchange between Harrison and the class. Several "real world" examples were cited by the group during this part of the forum. Harrison said that he was pleased to be Huntsville's first guest lecturer and had, in fact, sought out the distinction. In closing, he thanked the class collectively for their efforts as DoD acquisition professionals.

Team Effort

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