Acquisition Reform: This, Too, Shall Pass...?

For the past 25 years we have seen vigorous, near-continuous attempts to reform the defense acquisition process. Yet, these initiatives failed to reach their stated objectives. Today, we are in the midst of another wave of acquisition reform. Will this effort too, come, and go? This paper attempts to answer this question by comparing the past efforts in implementing acquisition reform to today's efforts using the backdrop of current organizational change theories. Four key elements to implement organizational change - leadership, metrics, workforce empowerment, and changing the organizational culture - are used as the basis of comparison. Of these four key elements, three show clear improvement with today's reform initiatives. The metrics program is stronger. The workforce is more involved through advances in technology and the extensive use of teams. Lastly, the values - the foundation of organizational culture - of government workers are clearly changing to be more conducive to reform efforts.