Research for Defense Economics
September 1, 2001
The purpose of this study is to review the realism, and sustainability of estimated savings under the competitive sourcing program and examine whether the expected level of savings can be achieved and maintained over the long run without affecting the quality of services provided. To look at these cost and performance issues, CNA examined 16 competitions completed between 1988 and 1996. For the 16 competitions included in our analysis, we collected actual costs and all available performance information from the time of competition through FY 1999. We calculated the expected level of savings for each competition (based on the difference between the pre-competition costs and the winning bid) and compared these savings estimates with the post-competition costs.
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December 1, 2000
In today's world of downsizing and shrinking budgets, the Department of the Navy (DON) continues to seek more efficient and effective ways to support the operational forces. The past decade has seen the end of the Cold War and a rise in the number of crisis response actions. With its ability to project forward presence, the DON has become a strong element in today's diplomacy. It is apparent that as the missions of the naval services evolve, the infrastructure that supports the operational forces must evolve as well. This infrastructure must be as flexible, responsive, and adaptable as the forces it supports. In response to this situation, in late 1997, the Secretary of the Navy directed the Under Secretary of the Navy to begin work on a strategic business plan for the DON. Such a plan required the participation of not only the leadership in the Secretariat, but the Navy and Marine Corps as well. This paper documents the DON's strategic planning efforts, reviews the processes and products that have been created to enable strategic planning, and provide recommendations and lessons learned.
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September 1, 2000
The Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Manpower and Personnel (N1B) requested that CNA analyze the Navy's compensation system in view of current recruiting and manning shortfalls and anticipated future changes in the Navy's workforce. This study will help the Navy implement an effective, market-based compensation system that will give it the ability to attract, retain, and motivate a high-quality workforce in a competitive, dynamic labor market. The intent is to take a strategic look at Navy compensation policy and practices. The starting point is to consider what the Navy wants to accomplish with its compensation system. What goals, in terms of managing human resources, can be met through compensation policies and practices? We consider human resources management system approaches, as well as approaches suggested by economics literature, and arrive at a succinct set of strategic goals.
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August 1, 2000
In June 1999, the Navy's Five Year Development Plan included roughly 80,000 civilian positions as part of its "competitive sourcing initiative." As a result of competitive sourcing, half or more of the positions involved with commercial activities (Navy activities that are similar to activities in industry) could be removed from the civil service roles either because of outsourcing or internal efficiencies. Because the competitions were planned for the most part, as isolated actions, the broader consequences of these competitions for the overall civil service workforce were not fully understood. For this reason, the Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (N1B) asked CNA to develop some guidelines that would help decision-makers plan for the consequences of the Navy's competitive sourcing initiative. Specifically, the request was to (a) establish a baseline of the current and past civil service workforce, and project changes that could result from the competitive sourcing initiative; (b) benchmark the Navy system and its
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May 1, 2000
The Navy is considering outsourcing some ship functions to civilians. This report focus directly on the issues related to the outsourcing of service functions aboard deploying ships and examines practical issues that arise in integrating civilians into a military working environment on board the ship. Our main interest in this effort is to get an accurate sense of the fleet's issues and concerns, particularly the sailors who will have to work with civilians, should the Navy decide to outsource. This research memorandum identifies the main issues and discusses their effect on the compatibility of a mixed crew of active duty personnel and civilians.
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March 1, 1999
This annotated briefing examines if Defense Health Program (DHP) savings from Utilization Management (UM) are achievable. We examined the effects of reductitions in the DHP budget associated with efficiencies arising from practicing UM at military medical facilities and clinics. We looked at key measures of efficiency and cost between DHP and the civilian health care market. We also determined how the system would respond to cuts in the budget due to UM efficiencies. Finally, we created a mathematical model that captured the way that money could be saved by practicing UM within DHP. We found that the mandated UM savings are achievable; however, the DHP faces several potentially difficult problems that will make it hard to achieve the intended savings.
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January 1, 1999
The Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Manpower, and Personnel asked CNA to analyze ways to transform the size and shape of the enlisted force to better meet the Navy's future requirements at an affordable cost. In this research, we analyze how the Sea Tour Extension Program (STEP) could improve sea/shore balance in the Navy. We discuss who would be eligible and how many sailors would likely extend their sea tours in response to STEP. We also examine how much STEP would improve sea manning, the cost of the program, and how large of a bonus would be effective. We found that a STEP bonus of about $250 per month would eliminate manning differential in the undermanned ratings and improve sea/shore rotation in ratings targeted solely for sea/shore ratio reasons. Such a STEP would have a program cost of about $23 million.
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June 1, 1998
This study examines potential manpower costs of outsourcing Navy jobs that result from more Sailors having to work out-of-skill. To examine these costs, we estimated the effects on retention and advancement of working in billets related to one's skill and in instructor billets. Focusing on E5 and E6 billets, we then compare the quantifiable costs of outsourcing military billets to the expected savings. Currently, 49.6 percent of E5 and E6 Sailors are assigned to rating-specific NECs on their shore tours. The analysis finds that if more than 49.6 percent of the outsourced billets are rating-specific, there would be fewer opportunities to work in-skill and lower retention, which would lead to costs to offset. We recommend that, when determining what billets to compete, the Navy start with general skill billets and other out-of-skill billets. Furthermore, if the Navy were to compete in-skill billets, we recommend that it compete low-training billets before high-training and instructor billets.
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June 1, 1998
The purpose of this study is to help the Navy identify the costs imposed on the Navy manpower system when military billets are outsourced. In particular, this paper examines how competition will affect the Navy's ability to achieve its objectives with respect to sea-shore rotation and homebasing. It provides, by community, estimates of how different outsourcing options would affect these military manpower decisions. The paper concludes that personnel policy constraints, especially the goal of providing an adequate base of shore billets for rotation, place significant limits on the number of military billets entered into A-76 competitions. Given the magnitude of manpower constraints, the Navy has two policy options: reduce the number of military billets to be competed or loosen the number of constraints. Loosening the constraints would involve: more carefully defining sea/shore ratios, allowing some A-76 competitions with high expected savings to be completed even if exceptions must be made to personnel policy goals, examining overseas shore billets that count as sea duty as good outsourcing candidates, and reexamining some of the IBR exclusions, especially for shore-intensive ratings. DTIC AD-B239314
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January 1, 1998
As the Navy has downsized its forces, funding for a variety of activities has dropped. The Navy's flagship schools, The United States Naval Academy, The Naval War College, The Naval Postgraduate School, and for purposes of this study, The Armed Forces Staff College, have not been immune to these reductions. In response, N81 asked CNA to take a bottom-up look at each the Navy's flagship schools. The main goals of the assessment were, first to evaluate the current quality of condition of the schools, and second, to help determine the level of funding needed over the Future Year Defense Plan (FYDP) to maintain Navy schools as 'top-tier' institutions. The study summarizes the findings and recommendations regarding funding and opportunities for efficiency improvements. One important finding focuses on the effectiveness of the current structure of the graduate education system. Although the flagship schools offer excellent graduate and professional military education, the Navy does not use its graduates in a manner consistent with these programs of study.
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