Value-Based Business Process Reengineering : An Objective Approach to Value Added

The promise of business process reengineering (BPR) must be validated by its effect on the "bottom line." It will be taken seriously as a new process improvement framework only when executives can be assured, a priori, that it will produce the desired ROI特別寄

An information-theoretic approach to software test-retest problems

Symposium Presentation (for Acquisition Research Program)Symposium PresentationNaval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research ProgramApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Measuring the Value Added of Management: A Knowledge Value Added Approach

Proceedings Paper (for Acquisition Research Program)That management adds value to organizations is one of the unquestioned truisms of business, government, military, and any other multi-member organization. The question left largely unanswered is, ''How much value does management add to an organization?'' The central research focus of this study is to establish a method for objectively measuring the value management adds to an organization. Determining the value added by management becomes particularly important as Navy acquisition managers deal with increasingly complex, open business models that engage many more participants in the development and implementation of products and services to support warfighters. There is a recognition that emerging, increasingly complex acquisition environments require more direction, collaboration, and control to achieve the reductions in costs as well as the increases in warfighting effectiveness that initiatives, such as the Open Architecture (OA) system acquisition and development framework, promise. The increasing burden on management in such environments largely derives from the amount of complexity managers must deal with by attempting to mitigate risks, improve predictions, and exercise the control and oversight necessary to be successful.Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research ProgramApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Measuring the Value Added of Management: A Knowledge Value Added Approach

Working Paper (for Acquisition Research Program)This article is one in a series of papers addressing one or more issues of critical importance to the acquisition profession. A working paper is a forum to accomplish a variety of objectives, such as: (1) present a rough draft of a particular piece of acquisition research, (2) structure a ''white paper'' to present opinion or reasoning, (3) put down one''s thoughts in a ''think piece'' for collegial review, (4) present a preliminary draft of an eventual article in an acquisition periodical, (5) provide a tutorial (such as a technical note) to accompany a case study, and (6) develop a dialogue among practitioners and researchers that encourages debate and discussion on topics of mutual importance. A working paper is generally the ''internal'' outlet for academic and research institutions to cultivate an idea, argument or hypothesis, particularly when in its infant stages. The primary intent is to induce critical thinking about crucial acquisition issues/problems that will become part of the acquisition professional body of knowledge. It is expected that articles in the working paper series will eventually be published in other venues, such as in refereed journals and other periodicals, as technical reports, as chapters in a book, as cases or case studies, as monographs, or as a variety of other similar publications. Readers are encouraged to provide both written and oral feedback to working paper authors. Through rigorous discussion and discourse, it is anticipated that underlying assumptions, concepts, conventional wisdom, theories and principles will be challenged, examined and articulated.Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research ProgramApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Measuring the value added of management: a knowledge value added approach

Acquisition research (Graduate School of Business & Public Policy)That management adds value to organizations is one of the unquestioned truisms of business, government, military, and any other multi-member organization. The question left largely unanswered is, How much value does management add to an organization? The central research focus of this study is to establish a method for objectively measuring the value management adds to an organization. Determining the value added by management becomes particularly important as Navy acquisition managers deal with increasingly complex, open business models that engage many more participants in the development and implementation of products and services to support warfighters. There is a recognition that emerging, increasingly complex acquisition environments require more direction, collaboration, and control to achieve the reductions in costs as well as the increases in warfighting effectiveness that initiatives, such as the Open Architecture (OA) system acquisition and development framework, promise. The increasing burden on management in such environments largely derives from the amount of complexity managers must deal with by attempting to mitigate risks, improve predictions, and exercise the control and oversight necessary to be successful.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Modeling Complex System Testing: Characterizing Test Coverage to Improve Information Return

Proceedings Paper (for Acquisition Research Program)Effective, cost-efficient testing is critical to the long-term success of open architecture within the Navy''s Integrated Warfare System. In previous research we have developed a simple, effective framework to examine the testing of complex systems. This model and its prototype decision aid provide a rigorous yet tractable approach to improve system testing, and to better understand and document the system and component interdependencies across the enterprise. An integral part of this model is characterizing test coverages on modules. Using idealized simulations of complex systems, we investigate the sensitivity of test selection strategy to the precision with which these coverages are specified. Monte Carlo analysis indicates that best-test selection strategies are somewhat sensitive to the precision of test coverage specification, suggesting significant impact on testing under fixed-cost constraint. These results provide significant insight as we extend this work with further study of real-world systems by applying, and refining, the mathematical analysis and computer simulation within this framework. The current decision-aid software will be further developed using these operational test and evaluation data, improving the fidelity of the current modeling while making available to program managers and system designers a usable and relevant tool for test-retest decisions.Acquisition Research ProgramApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Measuring the Value Added of Management: A Knowledge Value Added Approach

Symposium Presentation (for Acquisition Research Program)Symposium PresentationNaval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research ProgramApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Reducing the Cost of Risk-based Testing: Management of Testing Options to Manage Risk in Test and Evaluation

Sponsored Report (for Acquisition Research Program)In the acquisition or management of complex systems, testing is the means by which we trade budget or schedule for information about the likelihood our system will work correctly under operational load. Branch paths in hardware and software increase as a function of the number of components and interconnections, leading to exponential growth in the number of test cases required for exhaustive examination, or perfect knowledge, of a complex system. In practice, the typical cost for testing in schedule or in budget means that only a small fraction of these paths are investigated. In this work, we develop an abstract model to describe system testing and the information return (or reduction in risk) for the attendant cost in time and money. This model is supported by a mathematical analysis suitable for Monte Carlo simulation. The long-term goal of this modeling work is to construct a decision-support tool for the Navy Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) offering quantitative information about cost versus diagnostic certainty in system testing.Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research ProgramApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Reducing the cost of risk-based testing: management of testing options to manage risk in test and evaluation

In the acquisition or management of complex systems, testing is the means by which we trade budget or schedule for information about the likelihood our system will work correctly under operational load. Branch paths in hardware and software increase as a function of the number of components and interconnections, leading to exponential growth in the number of test cases required for exhaustive examination, or perfect knowledge, of a complex system. In practice, the typical cost for testing in schedule or in budget means that only a small fraction of these paths are investigated. In this work, we develop an abstract model to describe system testing and the information return (or reduction in risk) for the attendant cost in time and mondey. This model is supported by a mathematical analysis suitable for Monte Carlo simulation. The long-term goal of this modeling work is to construct a decision-support tool for the Navy Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) offering quantitative information about cost versus diagnostic certainty in system testing.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Mathematical modeling for risk-based system testing

Testing of complex systems is a fundamentally difficult task whether locating faults (diagnostic testing) or implementing upgrades (regression testing). Branch paths through the system increase as a function of the number of components and interconnections, leading to exponential growth in the number of test cases for exhaustive examination. In practice, the typical cost for testing in schedule or in budget means that only a small fraction of these paths are investigated. Given some fixed cost, then, which tests should we execute to guarantee the greatest information returned for the effort? In this work, we develop an approach to system testing using an abstract model flexible enough to be applied to both diagnostic and regression testing, grounded in a mathematical model suitable for rigorous analysis and Monte Carlo simulation. The goal of this modeling work is to construct a decision-support tool for the Navy Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) offering quantitative information about cost versus diagnostic certainty in system testing.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited