Summary

In GAO's view, the Pentagon can use the best practices of leading commercial firms to improve its development of technology and weapon systems. In particular, knowledge standards that are rigorously applied, coupled with the practice of keeping technology development separate from product development, stand out as key factors in the most successful commercial examples. These practices have helped managers to develop better products in less time and within budget. Defense Department (DOD) programs generally proceed with lower levels of knowledge about key factors of product development, such as proof of design maturity and production readiness. In addition, DOD allows technology development to take place during product development. Getting better outcomes on weapon system programs will take more than grafting commercial best practices onto the existing acquisition process, according to GAO. Environmental factors, such as the intense competition for funding when a program is launched, encourage lower standards of knowledge and the acceptance of higher, but unrecognized, risks. The adoption of best practices should be aimed at fostering an environment in which DOD encourages or rewards such practices. These measures will put DOD program managers in a better position to succeed, for GAO believes that they are as informed and capable as their commercial counterparts.

GAO noted that: (1) on the basis of the work GAO has done over the past 3 years, GAO believes the best practices of leading commercial firms can be used to improve the development of technology and weapon systems in DOD; (2) knowledge standards that are rigorously applied, coupled with the practice of keeping technology development separate from product development, stand out as key factors in the most successful commercial examples; (3) these practices have put managers in the best position to succeed in developing better products in less time and producing them within estimated costs; (4) DOD programs, with some exceptions, proceed with lower levels of knowledge available about key factors of product development; (5) DOD allows technology development to take place during product development; (6) these practices put DOD program managers in a much more difficult position to deliver better weapons more quickly and within cost projections; (7) getting better outcomes on weapon systems programs will take more than attempting to graft commercial best practices onto the existing acquisition process; (8) there are underlying reasons and incentives for why such practices are not a natural part of how weapon systems are bought; (9) environmental factors encourage lower standards of knowledge and the acceptance of higher, but unrecognized, risks; (10) what GAO offers to help the adoption of best practices is not a cookbook recipe, but a series of actions aimed at fostering an environment in DOD that encourages or rewards such practices; and (11) these actions will put managers of DOD programs in a better position to succeed, for GAO believes they are as informed and capable as their commercial counterparts.