File Number: NPS-AM-05-011

Author: Aruna U. Apte

Title: Spiral Develpment: A Perspective

Published: June 2005

Sponsored by: Acquisition Chair, Naval Postgraduate School

Full Text URL: http://www.acquisitionresearch.net/_files/FY2005/NPS-AM-05-011.pdf

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Abstract:

Many view the Department of Defense’s (DoD) acquisition process as ripe for repair. Shortcomings of predominantly used acquisition approaches, such as the Block approach or Pre-planned Product Improvement (P3I) to fulfill system requirements, have led to a new approach in Evolutionary Acquisition strategy: a process called spiral development.  This research study focuses on the process, promise, and limitations of spiral development. The study is centered on the key issues that distinguish a spiral approach from the traditional approaches implemented by the DoD. This study describes the fundamentals of the process of spiral development: increments, characteristics of the increments, and the capabilities they deliver using a simple model. The interest of this research is in understanding the concept of spiral development as it applies, specifically, to Program Managers. In conclusion, the analysis so far suggests two key issues: the necessity for a template or a set of rules that will aid Program Managers in understanding and implementing the concept of spiral development, and the role of modularity in spiral development. This research plans to address these issues and provide a possible road map towards a solution to them.

Keywords: Evolutionary Acquisition, spiral development, Program Managers, process, promise, limitations, modularity 

About the Author:

Dr. Aruna Apte is an Assistant Professor in the department of Logistics, Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. She received her PhD in Operations Research from the School of Engineering at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Her earlier education includes a Master’s in Mathematics and credits towards a PhD in Mathematics from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has taught in the Cox School of Business, School of Engineering and the Department of Mathematics at Southern Methodist University. She has over twenty years of experience in teaching operations management, operations research, and mathematics courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the resident and remote programs.

Apte has successfully completed various research projects involving applications of mathematical models and optimization techniques. Her research interests are in the areas of developing mathematical models and algorithms for complex, real-world operational problems using techniques of combinatorial optimization, network programming, and mixed integer programming based on heuristic search methods.  She is interested in developing theoretical concepts in mathematical programming.  It is also important to her that her research is directly applicable to practical problems and has significant value-adding potential. Her research articles have been published in prestigious journals including Naval Research Logistics and Interfaces. She has published one article and two are forthcoming in the Acquisition Research Sponsored Report Series, GSBPP, NPS. She also has a patent pending for the “SONET Ring Designer Tool,” developed when she worked as a consultant for MCI. 

Aruna Apte

Assistant Professor

Graduate School of Business and Public Policy

Naval Postgraduate School

Monterey, CA 93943-5197

Tel: (831) 656-7583

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The research presented in this report was supported by the Acquisition Chair of the Graduate School of Business & Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School.

To collaborate on Defense Acquisition Research or to become a research sponsor, please contact:

RADM James B. Greene, USN, (Ret), Acquisition Chair
Tel: (831) 656-2092
Fax: (831) 656-2253
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