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FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- New annual operating plans for Defense Logistics Agency directorates and primary-level field activities are expected to help the agency’s leaders measure progress toward specific goals.
The plans define the mission, key operational goals and initiatives of each directorate and PFLA and are part of the governance structure used by DLA’s director and senior leaders to ensure the agency achieves its mission.
“The beauty of these AOPs is that we can use them as a framework for the director’s semiannual PFLA and directorate reviews. While in the past, there was some latitude in what was included in these reviews, we now have very specific goals and metrics to work with,” said Phyllisa Goldenberg, director of DLA Strategic Plans and Policy.
The annual plans include details on how each part of DLA is working toward initiatives set forth in the annual Director’s Guidance and give local commanders the chance to outline their own organizational goals. While some PFLAs and directorates have used similar business plans in the past, this is the first time they’ve been included in the agency’s official governance structure, Goldenberg said.
“DLA’s governance structure has been fine-tuned throughout the agency’s existence. With a $46 billion enterprise, you clearly need some governance to manage the agency, but you need to keep refreshing it if you want to be successful in the future,” she said.
Governance helps ensure the agency’s supply chains, services and distribution centers are closely aligned and integrated.
“With proper governance, a change in a DLA operations process isn’t implemented without other senior leaders considering what it means to their processes, for example. And a change in DLA Acquisition processes won’t throw DLA information systems over the cliff,” she continued.
Former DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson made big changes to the agency’s governance structure shortly after he took responsibility in November 2008.
“Leadership at all levels needs to have the maximum impact, so by assessing and restructuring our governance structure, we’re going to ensure that leaders at all levels are as effective as they can possibly be,” Thompson said when unveiling the new structure to the workforce.
The structure he created consists of three primary groups: the Strategy Council, Executive Board and Alignment Group. The Strategy Council focuses on long-term operations, the Executive Board deals with current operations and assesses the business of the agency, and the Alignment Group executes changes needed as a result of decisions made by the Strategy Council.
The primary groups are supported by several specialized committees, including the Program Budget Review Group and the Research and Development Board. A Stewardship Committee also exists to develop internal controls that address such issues as cybersecurity and procurement fraud.
“When the committee was stood up back in the mid ‘90s, it was very focused on financial auditability. That’s still a part of what the committee looks at, but instead of viewing auditability as the end-all, be-all outcome, it’s now more focused on improving how business gets done because it’s having well-understood and well-documented processes that enables you to achieve and sustain financial auditability,” said Jeff Stagnitti, DLA’s chief risk officer.
The use of decision memorandums was also introduced in the past year to create a record of decisions made by the DLA director.
“If a subsequent director says, ‘When did we do this and why?’ we won’t have to rely on the fading memory of an individual who may or may not recall correctly. The decision memos are artifacts and an important foundation for future governance of the agency,” Goldenberg said.
Every director in the agency’s existence has made changes to DLA’s governance structure, she added.
“Every director wants to make the agency better, and everyone’s approach helps to do that. There are some approaches we’re more comfortable with than others, but upon reflection, you can see the goodness in all the fine-tuning,” she said. “We continue to grow and succeed because we change to meet current needs.”
| Date Taken: | 11.29.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 12.01.2011 10:24 |
| Story ID: | 80775 |
| Location: | FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 75 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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