Management Control in Weapons Systems Acquisition.

This thesis examines the management function from the perspective of a Navy Weapons Acquisition Program Manager. It is hypothesized that control is a key variable to success. To be in control, a program manager must make significant decisions in the process of fulfilling his basic mission. To be effective, those decisions must be informed decisions. The first half of this thesis effort establishes a conceptual base for the subsequent development of a practical framework for management control in an ongoing acquisition project. Chapters two and three report the results of an analysis of the literature on control and information management. The conceptual study concludes with an examination of two theoretical frameworks, a brief look at the Navy program manager and how he fits into these two frameworks, followed by a summary description of three control systems used in the Navy today. The second half of the effort presents a proposal for a management control system for the FIREBRAND Missile acquisition project, and a model for future efforts in similar circumstances. Author