The dynamics of successful program management: the case of Army TACMS.

118 Pages·2.1 MB·en_US

by  Myrick, Paul R.;Roberts, Nancy Charlotte.;Lamm, David V.

OUOUY KNOXLIBRARY
NAVALPOSTGRADUATESCHOOL
MONTEREY CA 93943^101

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The DynamicsofSuccessful Program Management: The Case ofArmyTACMS
by
Paul R.^yrick
Captain, United States Army
B.S., RochesterInstitute ofTechnology, 1983
Submitted in partial fulfillment
ofthe requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT
from the
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
.March 1993 /^
Departmentoi Aominisirauve ociences -
11
Unclassified
SECURITYCLASSIFICATIONOFTHISPAGE
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Approvedfor publicrelease;distributionisunlimited.
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6a NAMEOFPERFORMINGORGANIZATION 6b OFFICESYMBOL 7a NAMEOFMONITORINGORGANIZATION
NavalPostgraduateSchool (Ifapplicable) NavalPostgraduateSchool
55
6c ADDRESS(Crty,State,andZIPCode) 7b ADDRESS(Crty,State,andZIPCode)
Monterey.CA 93943-5000 Monterey,CA 93943-5000
8a.NAMEOF FUNDING/SPONSORING 8b OFFICESYMBOL 9 PROCUREMENTINSTRUMENTIDENTIFICATIONNUMBER
ORGANIZATION (Ifapplicable)
8c ADDRESS(Crty,State,andZIPCode) 10 SOURCEOFFUNDINGNUMBERS
ProgramElementNo ProtectNo TaikNo WorkUnitAccession
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11 TITLE(IncludeSecurityClassification)
The Dynamics of Successful Program Management: The Case ofArmy TACMS
12 PERSONALAUTHOR(S) Myrick,PauJR.
13a.TYPEOFREPORT 13b TIMECOVERED 14 DATEOFREPORT(year,month,day) 15 PAGECOUNT
Master'sThesis From To March 1993 110
16 SUPPLEMENTARYNOTATION
TheviewsexpressedinthisthesisarethoseoftheauthoranddonotreflecttheofficialpolicyorpositionoftheDepartmentofDefenseortheU.S.
Government.
17 COSATICODES 18.SUBJECTTERMS(continueonreverseifnecessaryandidentifybyblocknumber)
FIELD GROUP SUBGROUP ProjectManagement,PM,Competencies,ProjectManager,ArmyTacticalMissileSystem,
MissileCommand,ProgramExecutiveOilicer,Bomblet,CriticalBehaviorInterview,Defense
AcquisitionBoard.
19 ABSTRACT(continueonreverseifnecessaryandidentifybyblocknumber)
ProjectManagementhasevolvedasasuccessfultooltomanagecomplexweaponsystems. Asbudgetsdecline,DepartmentofDefenseproject
managersarechallengedtoimprovetheirskillsandcompetenciesforsuccessfulprojectmanagement. Whilethecurrentliteraturespecifiesthe
overallrequirementsnecessaryforsuccessfulprojectmanagement,itdoesnotdetailanddescribehowthoserequirementsaretobefulfilledona
dailybasis. Thepurposeofthisthesisistoprovidefutureprojectmanagerswithanin-depthglimpseofhowasuccessfulprojectmanageroperates
inrealtime. TheprojectmanageroftheArmyTacticalMissileSystem(TACMS)wasselectedtostudybecausehewasnamedbytheArmyasthe
1991 ProjectManageroftheYear. TheanalysisisbasedoninterviewswiththeProjectManager(PM),histeam,andoutsidestakeholders,such
astheofficeoftheProgramExecutiveOfficer. Thisresearchidentifiestwoareasoffactorsthatimpactsuccess: factorswithinthePM'scontrol
andfactorsbeyondthePM'scontrol. FurtheranalysisofthefactorswithinthePM'scontrolidentifiedthreedomainsofcompetencies: leadership,
stakeholderrelations,andmanagement. ThisresearchpresentstheapproachesusedbytheArmyTACMSPMtomanagethethreedomains
whileachievingsuccessfulprojectmanagement.
20 DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITYOFABSTRACT 21 ABSTRACTSECURITYCLASSIFICATION
EyONCLASSIFI£D/UNLIMITED [Tl SAMEASRtPORT PI DTICUSERS Unclassified
22a NAMEOFRESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUAL 22b TELEPHONE(IncludeAreacode) 22c OFFICESYMBOL
NancyC.Roberta (408)-656-2742 AS/Rc
DO FORM 1473.84MAR 63APReditionmaybeuseduntilexhausted SECURITYCLASSIFICATIONOFTHISPAGE
Allothereditionsareobsolete Unclassified
ABSTRACT
Project management has evolved as a successful tool to manage complex weapon
systems. As budgets decline, Department of Defense project managers are challenged
to improve their skills and competencies for successful project management.
While the current literature specifies the overall requirements necessary for
successful project management, it does not detail and describe how those requirements
are to be fulfilled on a daily basis. The puqjose ofthis thesis is to provide future project
managers with an in-depth glimpse of how a successful project manager operates in real
time.
The project manager of the Army Tactical Missile System (TACMS) was selected
to study because he was named by the Army as the 1991 Project Manager of the Year.
The analysis is based on interviews with the Project Manager (PM), his team, and
outside stakeholders, such as the office ofthe Program Executive Officer. This research
identifies two areas of factors that impact success: factors within the PM's control and
factors beyond the PM's control. Further analysis ofthe factors within the PM's control
identified three domains of competencies: leadership, stakeholder relations, and
management. This research presents the approaches used by the Army TACMS PM to
manage the three domains while achieving successful project management.
m
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I. 1
A. PURPOSE
1
BACKGROUND
B. 1
C. THESIS OBJECTIVES 2
D. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 2
ORGANIZATION
E. 3
UTERATURE REVIEW
n. 5
A. INTRODUCTION 5
B. THE EVOLUTION OF DOD PROJECT MANAGEMENT 5
C. THE PROJECT MANAGER (PM) 6
D. CHALLENGES FACED BY PMs 7
E. STANDARDS FOR SUCCESS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT ... 13
SUMMARY
F. 20
m. METHODOLOGY
21
A. INTRODUCTION 21
B. RESEARCH DESIGN 21
IV
THE CASE
C. 23
D. DATA COLLECTION METHODS 24
E. LIMITATIONS 28
SUMMARY
F. 29
IV. HISTORY OF THE ARMY TACTICAL MISSILE SYSTEM 30
A. THE ARMY TACTICAL MISSILE SYSTEM (ARMY TACMS) ... 30
BIRTH OF ARMY TACMS
B. 33
C. THE ARMY TACMS PROJECT UNDER COLONEL MATTHEWS 34
SUMMARY
D. 37
V. RESULTS 38
INTRODUCTION
A. 38
B. INTERVIEW RESULTS - COLONEL MATTHEWS 38
C. INTERVIEW RESULTS - PROJECT ORGANIZATION 57
D. CRITICAL INCIDENT 67
E. THE VIDEO TAPE 72
SUMMARY
F. 73
VI. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 74
A. INTRODUCTION 74
B. ANALYSIS OF INTERVIEWS 74
C. ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS FOR SUCCESS 76
D. COMPARISON WITH UTERATURE 81
OTHER FACTORS
E. 82
SUMMARY
F. 82
Vn. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 83
A. INTRODUCTION 83
CONCLUSIONS
B. 83
RECOMMENDATIONS
C. 86
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY
D. 88
APPENDIX A: SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 90
APPENDIX B: BIOGRAPHICAL DATA 94
APPENDIX C: CHARTER 96
APPENDIX D: VIDEO TAPE 97
BIBUOGRAPHY
98
INITIAL DISTRIBUTION UST 102
vi