Archives
Recent
Defense Contractors
Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued memorandum M-12-19 regarding defense-contractor responsibilities under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. OMB has concluded WARN notices are unnecessary precautions against potential sequestration layoffs that
. . . Read more
Date:
10/9/2012
Two giants bestride the world of commercial aircraft: America's Boeing and Europe's Airbus. They are roughly equal in terms of orders for their aircraft and planes delivered over the last ten years. Boeing dominates the twin aisle or widebody market with its 747, 767, 777 and the new 787 Dreamliner.
. . . Read more
Date:
9/21/2012
Discussions to date about sequestration have focused on major programs such as Medicare and defense spending or on large companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, SAIC and IBM. Lost in the noise is the potentially devastating impact on small and disadvantaged businesses. The irony is that both parties
. . . Read more
Date:
9/19/2012
When is it a good idea to use private contractors to perform tasks that are or could be done by government employees or personnel in uniform? Under the Clinton and Bush Administrations there was a push to outsource a broad range of activities and services supporting both the Department of Defense
. . . Read more
Date:
6/15/2012
Yesterday, Jim McNerney, the CEO of Boeing, fired a devastating broadside at the Obama Administration. In a public forum, he observed that ". . . . very few people in the Administration share life experiences with those of us who are in the private sector." In fairness to the White House, McNerney
. . . Read more
Date:
5/9/2012
What are the signs that the U.S. military is in decline? Stalemate on the battlefield. Withdrawal from long-occupied positions in the world. A shrinking force posture. By all these indicators, the U.S. military is in trouble.
An even more telling sign is when defense contractors defy their major,
. . . Read more
Date:
3/1/2012
One of the worst facets of the federal management culture is the way that politicians and policymakers devalue past investments. That's especially true with regard to Pentagon technology accounts, where every program termination is considered "savings" regardless of how much money was spent on
. . . Read more
Date:
12/19/2011
There's a long-running debate among deterrence theorists about what influences the behavior of enemies more -- certainty or uncertainty. Are aggressors more deterred when they know precisely what response their actions will provoke, or when the response is left to their imagination?
I am reminded
. . . Read more
Date:
10/7/2011



