Reinventing Government Research and Development: A Status Report on Management Initiatives and Reinvention Efforts at the Army Research Laboratory

摘要

The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) was activated at the beginning of fiscal year 1993. Since then, ARL has operated in an environment of continuing stress, caused by a variety of factors. Like many other 'corporate' research laboratories, it has been subject to economic constraints and pressures, leading to downsizing, consolidation, infrastructure reduction, and outsourcing. As a military laboratory, it has also been significantly affected by the end of the Cold War. To cope with this changing environment, ARL has undertaken a variety of management initiatives: in the current jargon, it has been reinventing itself. This report summarizes the current status of these ongoing initiatives. It begins with a discussion of the fundamental reinvention of the research effort at ARL-the Federated Laboratory-and then discusses several others that directly or indirectly support it. The report concludes with a summary appraisal, in 'report card' form, of the reinvention efforts over the past five years.