Defense Systems Management: The 375 Series

Geddes Philip , “Customer Closes Loopholes in Program Management,” Aerospace Management, April 1964.

Ibid.

Air Force Systems Command Manual (AFSCM) 375–4, p. 4, Final Coordination Draft, June 1965.

Ibid., p. 1.

The word “interface” is a useful part of aerospace industry jargon. The word indicates a meeting or tangency of two or more elements—technical elements or organizational elements—but it does not indicate the nature of the relationship that exists. However, if one is aware of a meeting point, further consideration may be given to defining the nature and criticality of that relationship.

DOD Directive 3200.9, July 1, 1965, p. 4.

Ibid., p. 6.

Ibid., p. 3.

Ibid., p. 9 and AFSCM 375–4, p. 85.

Some work has been done in describing the nature of matrix organizations; cf. Mee John , “Matrix Organization,” Business Horizons, VII:2 (Spring 1964), 70–72, and Shull Fremont A. , “Matrix Structure and Project Authority for Optimizing Organizational Capacity” (Business Science Monograph, No. 1, Business Research Bureau; Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University, n.d.). More work should be done on the effects of such arrangements.

AFSCM 375–2 covers management surveys, is not mentioned in AFSCM 375–4, and is not currently in use. AFSCM 375–6 deals specifically with development engineering and will not be covered in this article.

Cf. AFSCM 375–4, p. i.

Ibid., p. 4.

AFSCM 375–3, p. 39.

AFSCM 375–5, p. i, Dec. 14, 1964.

Ibid.

AFSCM 375–3, p. 42.

For a discussion of this subject as regards individual firms, see Davis R. C. , Fundamentals of Top Management (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1951), pp. 306–316, and Koontz O'Donnell , Principles of Management (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1964), chap. 17.