Date of Award

3-21-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering Management

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

Alfred E. Thal, Jr., PhD.

Abstract

The Air Force is pursuing strategic sourcing as a strategy for reducing costs of goods and services to help meet budget reductions while still performing its mission. These commodities are sourced through a number of commodity councils, each of which whom interact with their stakeholders throughout the sourcing process for that specific commodity. This research identifies factors that influence the success or failure of the sourcing process from the perspective of the Civil Engineering Commodity Council (CECC) and attempts to organize these factors within a framework built around trust and its effect on commitment and cooperation. These factors were identified through in-depth interviews performed with personnel on the CECC with experience in the sourcing process, after which responses were analyzed with Atlas.ti to identify themes and trends. Stakeholder support and participation was stated to be one of the largest factors impacting successful sourcing efforts, and perceptions of other factors such as appropriate training, appropriate mix of specialties on the team, experience, marketing, and successes were proposed as important to building trust in the CECC. Addressing these factors would then improve the perceptions of ability and benevolence of the CECC, resulting in improved trust, commitment, and cooperation from the career field.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENV-13-M-21

DTIC Accession Number

ADA581000

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