The Journey of UK Defence Reform: The Story of One Contribution from Research, Education & Training
Abstract
Defence accounts for approximately £40billion of government spend and as a Department, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) is under relentless pressure to do morefor less. At the same time, the need to deliver and maintain effective military capabilities across all domains – air, land and sea –and to be able to respond to defence policy at a time of new and emerging threats, involves some of the most complex projects and programmes in the world. The MOD has been the subject of many independent reviews and government audits aimed at improving its performance. The paper outlines the most recent activities that have shaped the Department’s Defence Reform agendaand draws a comparison with similar and synchronous reviews undertaken in the US Department of Defence (DOD). Building on the more established disciplinesof project and programme management, emergence of a portfolio management approach is posited as a key theme underpinning Defence Reform on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK, Defence Reformhas resulted in changed structures, new roles and,at least to some extent, different ways of working. In dealing with these challenges, the MOD has called upon Cranfield University for support resulting in the design and delivery of a range of new education and training courses. The author, an academic atCranfield’s Centre for Defence Management and Leadership (CfDML) has been directly responsible for some of that work. The paper describes three interventions at project, programme and portfolio level aimed at supporting Defence Reform and the research undertaken in connection with those interventions.The paper discusses the degree to which such research has been able to provide genuine ‘thought leadership’ to the MOD and concludes that whilst there is evidence of a contribution, there are inevitable limitations to the scope and scale of that contribution.
Full Text: PDF
Abstract
Defence accounts for approximately £40billion of government spend and as a Department, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) is under relentless pressure to do morefor less. At the same time, the need to deliver and maintain effective military capabilities across all domains – air, land and sea –and to be able to respond to defence policy at a time of new and emerging threats, involves some of the most complex projects and programmes in the world. The MOD has been the subject of many independent reviews and government audits aimed at improving its performance. The paper outlines the most recent activities that have shaped the Department’s Defence Reform agendaand draws a comparison with similar and synchronous reviews undertaken in the US Department of Defence (DOD). Building on the more established disciplinesof project and programme management, emergence of a portfolio management approach is posited as a key theme underpinning Defence Reform on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK, Defence Reformhas resulted in changed structures, new roles and,at least to some extent, different ways of working. In dealing with these challenges, the MOD has called upon Cranfield University for support resulting in the design and delivery of a range of new education and training courses. The author, an academic atCranfield’s Centre for Defence Management and Leadership (CfDML) has been directly responsible for some of that work. The paper describes three interventions at project, programme and portfolio level aimed at supporting Defence Reform and the research undertaken in connection with those interventions.The paper discusses the degree to which such research has been able to provide genuine ‘thought leadership’ to the MOD and concludes that whilst there is evidence of a contribution, there are inevitable limitations to the scope and scale of that contribution.
Full Text: PDF
Browse Journals
Journal Policies
Information
Useful Links
- Call for Papers
- Submit Your Paper
- Publish in Your Native Language
- Subscribe the Journal
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Contact the Executive Editor
- Recommend this Journal to Librarian
- View the Current Issue
- View the Previous Issues
- Recommend this Journal to Friends
- Recommend a Special Issue
- Comment on the Journal
- Publish the Conference Proceedings
Latest Activities
Resources
Visiting Status
 Today |
154 |
| Yesterday |
70 |
| This Month |
485 |
| Last Month |
2421 |
 All Days |
981276 |
 Online |
36 |
