Date of Award

3-26-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering Management

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

Peter P. Feng, PhD.

Abstract

Assessing the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance and foreign aid has presented a challenge to personnel tasked with these operations. Answering the question "are we winning hearts and minds" has similarly eluded military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. This research presents a review of humanitarian assistance and foreign aid conducted by the U.S. government and literature on U.S. military doctrine regarding humanitarian assistance and infrastructure investment. The research builds upon expectancy disconfirmation theory to determine the strongest predictors of citizen satisfaction with government services. Case study data was collected in Belize before and after a U.S. military humanitarian and civil assistance construction project was executed, and this data was analyzed using an expectancy theory model. The results indicate that the model using performance, disconfirmation, and an interaction effect of both explains 56% of the variation in citizen satisfaction and proposes a predictive model of citizen satisfaction. This article proposes further research with improvement to the survey methods and instrument; it also discusses how the model may not account for an unmeasured variable. Further research is also suggested to determine the relationship of time and location on a citizen's satisfaction rating when considering the impact of a humanitarian project.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENV-MS-15-M-190

DTIC Accession Number

ADA616201

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