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KM expertise. To their credit, AeroCorp, with more than 5,000 employees nationwide, had
successfully completed other government KM projects since 1997. In outsourcing to
AeroCorp, Adkins justified his decision by saying,
We find AeroCorp provides unique benefits to the government and is the best value for
the technical services required. AeroCorp rates are competitive with the other
contractors reviewed; AeroCorp is a highly regarded supporter of KM at the OSD
[Office of the Secretary of Defense] level; AeroCorp is the developer of the AFKM
Virtual Schoolhouse; and AeroCorp has proven integration expertise. In addition,
AeroCorp rated extremely high in the area of customer service and past performance.
Although the final statement of work for the AeroCorp contract reflected a number
of specific deliverables (see Appendix 4) that ranged from strategic visioning to
deployment plan and execution, Adkins’ foremost concern was the development of the
AFKM strategic vision and plan (or roadmap). These documents would be key in helping
him to decide the future direction of AFKM. With a strategic vision and road map, he
would have at least a starting point for decision making.
CURRENT CHALLENGES/PROBLEMS
FACING THE ORGANIZATION
Randy Adkins had hoped that by outsourcing the AFKM strategy development to
AeroCorp that resolution of major issues associated with the evolution of the AFKM
program and system would be addressed. The statement of work outlined that it was
AeroCorp’s job to do the following (HQ AFMC/DRI, 2000):
- Help AFMC management define a strategic vision for KM to support the AF
acquisition community mission. - Integrate the AFKM Lessons Learned database, AFMC Help Center, and the
Virtual Schoolhouse into a single dynamic system based on this strategic vision. - Provide support to these existing systems throughout the integration effort and
ultimately for the integrated AFKM system.
AeroCorp’s initial deliverable was to build an AFKM strategic vision and plan
within 60 days. According to the statement of work, this plan should incorporate both
the cultural and technical aspects of the acquisition environment. The resultant docu-
ment was to include a road map of how to proceed from the current business environment
to the envisioned environment (HQAFMC/DRI, 2000).
Consequences of Outsourcing KM Strategy Development
The first action taken by AeroCorp under the new contract was to conduct both a
cultural and technical needs assessment “snapshot” of AFMC with respect to KM.
These needs assessments were to provide the “as is” picture of AFMC’s environment
while providing recommendations for the “to be” vision and the necessary supporting
policies and processes. Actual completion of the needs assessments went rather quickly
and were presented to Adkins in early 2001. Each report included both specific, one-liner