This book is an up-to-date, in-depth examination of program management from its use by the Department of Defense to its commercial applications. Program management enables management to deal with complex, long range, and extremely expensive endeavors. It is a method of developing a solution to a broad, nebulous problem, drawing upon the resources and personnel of many different organizational groups to manage the institution of that solution. This work explains the principles of program management and includes 9 mission and 5 market applications. Of particular interest is the application based on the $15-billion, computer-and-communication nonmilitary transportation system of the 21st century, the National Airspace System (NAS).

"Dynamic Program Management" presents important new concepts. The reader is introduced to a seven step sequence from military need to contract award. The idea of credible capability to evaluate competing future technologies for defense systems and the concurrent conflicts of the program manager are explored. The book details logistics auxiliaries integrating WBS, CM, and T&E. Finally, MESGRA is featured -- a highly accurate, computer-based numerical forecasting algorithm which uses very few datapoints, and which makes rapid adjustments to violent fluctuations. "Dynamic Program Management" is essential reading for academics and professionals studying and practicing Program/Project Management, and Defense, Technology, Systems Management.

In real-life decision-making situations it is necessary to make decisions with incomplete information, for oftentimes uncertain results. In "Decision-Making Under Uncertainty," Dr. Chacko applies his years of statistical research and experience to the analysis of twenty-four real-life decision-making situations, both those with few data points (eg: Cuban Missile Crisis), and many data points (eg: aspirin for heart attack prevention). These situations encompass decision-making in a variety of business, social and political, physical and biological, and military environments. Though different, all of these have one characteristic in common: their outcomes are uncertain/unkown, and unknowable. Chacko Demonstrates how the decision-maker can reduce uncertainty by choosing probable outcomes using the statistical methods he introduces.

This detailed volume develops standard statistical concepts (t, x2, normal distribution, ANOVA), and the less familiar concepts (logical probability, subjective probability, Bayesian Inference, Penalty for Non-Fulfillment, Bluff-Threats Matrix, etc.). Chacko also offers a thorough discussion of the underlying theoretical principles. The end of each chapter contains a set of questions, three quarters of which focus on concepts, formulation, conclusion, resource commitments, and caveats; only one quarter with computations. Ideal for the practitioner, the work is also designed to serve as the primary text for graduate or advanced undergraduate courses in statistics and decision science.

This book examines the management of high technology from the dual perspectives of the commercial markets and military national-interest missions. The author's thesis is that the successful management of technology has as much to do with the survival of the country as the success and survival of any particular corporation or industry. He studies thirty real-life applications of technology management and, using these examples, develops strategies for success both in commercial and governmental areas. His examples are evenly divivded between military, space and communications missions, and hi-tech products and services markets.

Drawing upon his considerable practical experience in the field and his highly regarded theoretical work, Chacko explores the use of systems science in solving complex problems in a variety of contexts. The author operationally defines the characteristics of problems that require a systems approach, presents his own step-by-step systems approach protocol, and takes the reader through 25 applications of the protocol to actual events. Ranging from global strategy decision-making to corporate sales planning, the case examples clearly demonstrate the ways in which the systems approach can be an effective operational tool for managers and policymakers involved in decision-making hituations characterized by difficulty and uncertainty.

The case examples included fall into two major categories: missions and markets. In the first group, Chacko analyzes problems such as the U.S. response to Soviet threats during the Cuban missile crisis, the decision to attempt to achieve a nuclear force reduction agreement, and the questions of where and how to base the nation's strategic air forces. Among the market applications examined are Texas Instruments' decision to develop, manufacture, and market semiconductor devices; a corporate strategy to increase market share by 30 percent; and the evaluation of electronic alternatives to paper-based communications. Throughout, Chacko pays particular attention to developing a workable approach to problem-solving in an atmosphere of complexity and uncertainty. His work will be especially useful to marketing and R&D professionals as well as to students of systems science and analysis.