Sample_Syllabus_MN3155_Spring18_Redacted.pdf

Financial Management for Acquisition Managers (MN3155)

Spring Quarter AY2018

Course Description

From the NPS Course Catalog: This course is a study of financial management practices and issues associated with Department of Defense (DOD) major acquisition weapon system programs. The course emphasizes (1) the DOD resource allocation management process flow from initiation of a new acquisition program through execution of appropriated funds for research, development, test & evaluation (RDT&E) and procurement accounts for that program, (2) the congressional approval and review process unique to Defense procurement, and (3) financial management tools for budget formulation, economic analysis and cost estimation to analyze and evaluate Defense acquisition programs. The course covers the following topics:

Planning/Estimating: This section of topics describe the planning, estimating, strategy development, and document preparation which occurs in initiating a major system acquisition program and continues throughout its life cycle. Beginning with program direction these topics help students explore the key facets of financial management planning performed in a system program office. Topics addressed include cost behavior, relevant cost decision-making, and long-term investment analysis.

Budget Formulation: This section of topics describes the budget formulation process that occurs during the programming and budgeting portions of the Department of Defense Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System. The purpose, timing, and interrelationship of the Program Objective Memorandum (POM), Budget Estimate Submission (BES), and President's Budget (PB) will be explored as well as the documentation to support these activities.

Budget Enactment/Execution: This section describes the budget enactment process that begins when the President's Budget is submitted to Congress and ends when the President signs the DoD Appropriations Act into Public Law. It also includes the flow of the authority to incur obligations from the Congress through the Treasury Department, Office of Management and Budget, Department of Defense and a Service HQ resulting in Budget Authorization/Sub-allocation or Operating Budget Authority being provided to acquisition activities. It also explores management of those funds in compliance with fiscal law, and the use of Earned Value Management.

Course Objectives

1. Summarize the roles and responsibilities of the program Business Financial

Manager (BFM) within a major weapon system acquisition program office.

2. Analyze the DOD resource allocation management process flow from initiation of a new major weapon system acquisition program through execution of appropriated funds for that program.

3. Evaluate the dynamics and importance of the DOD Planning, Programming and Budgeting and Execution System (PPBES) and its relationship to and effect on the systems acquisition process.

4. Explain basic cost terms and analysis of cost behavior.

5. Outline the concepts and calculations associated with the Time Value of Money.

6. Examine the laws, policies and practices applicable to developing a major weapon system program budget, focusing on fiscal law and laws related to program cost.

7. Analyze how cost/budget reviews relate to systems acquisition program review/decision process.

8. Evaluate a program’s budget submission based on its cost estimate, requirements, and economic analysis.

9. Assess the dynamics of resolving critical issues related to systems acquisition program execution, with an emphasis on cost analysis and earned value management.

10. Analyze the Congressional Budget Process and recognize how Congressional activities and relations impact systems acquisition management.

Instructor is a retired Navy Supply Corps officer who served as a BFM and comptroller in aviation acquisition and IT support organizations. earned DAWIA Level 3 BCEFM and membership in the Acquisition Professional Community. In 2008, served as a special assistant to the ASN(FM&C), experiencing the policy layer of defense budgeting.

has been on the faculty of NPS since 2002 and has taught over 100 courses in public policy and public budgeting. research and writing has addressed budget and accounting reform, performance management, acquisition cost growth, and congressional oversight of defense through the budget. work has appeared in six different peer-reviewed journals, he authored the Financial Management chapter of Management of Defense Acquisition Projects (Rendon & Snider, 2008), co-authored Financing National

Defense: Policy & Process (2012), and was the sole author of National Defense Budgeting and Financial Management (2017).

A lifelong learner, earned his B.S. (Economics) from Penn State in 1984, his M.S.

(Financial Management) from NPS in 1996, and his J.D. from Monterey College of Law in 2015.

Class Time We will meet online via Collaborate on Tuesday mornings. Class starts promptly at 0800 Pacific Time; the Collaborate site will open 30 minutes prior. We have 3 hours allotted, but this is only a 2-credit course, so we will end after about 2 hours on most days.

Course Protocols Collaborate. At this point in your program, you should be very familiar with the Collaborate environment. A few things about my preferences:

• Feel free to use chat to respond to my questions and for sidebar conversations, so long as they relate to the class topic.

• If you ask me a question in the chat box and I do not respond, I might not have seen it. Raise your hand to get my attention.

• If a student asks a question in the chat box, other students should feel free to answer it.

• If you see me through the video feature, it means I want to have a class discussion. If the video camera is off, I am usually lecturing. (Not a hard rule, I may forget to turn it on.)

• Use the emoticons if you are confused, I am going too fast, I am beating a dead horse, etc.

• We will begin most classes with a quick review quiz of multiple choice questions using Collaborate’s polling feature.

Attendance. Because you are part-time students, there will be times when work demands require you to miss all or part of a class. When an absence is foreseeable, please let the instructor know before class. Excessive absences may affect your course grade.

Grades. Your course grade will be based on a mid-term exam (40%) and a final exam (60%). Exams will be a combination of multiple choice, short answer, and scenario-based analytical questions. All exams are individual efforts and no collaboration with classmates, co-workers, interactive websites, other humans, or AI devices (e.g., Siri or Alexis). You may use any of the course materials (i.e., they are “open book” and “closed person”).

Text. There is no text to purchase for this class. All materials you will need will be hyperlinked in Sakai under the Lessons page. Several readings are from the draft of the instructor’s defense budgeting text, some are DAU resources (such as the Defense Acquisition Guidebook, DAG), some are DoD regulations (e.g., DODI 5000 and DOD

FMR).

If you want the full budgeting text, the usual online book retailers (and the publisher) offer it. The key information: National Defense Budgeting and Financial Management:

Policy and Process by Philip J. Candreva, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2017. ISBN: 978-1681238708. The author receives no royalties for the sale of this book.

A nice supplement to this course is Management of Defense Acquisition Projects, edited by Rene G. Rendon & Keith F. Snider, published by AIA in 2008, ISBN: 978- 1563479502. The authors and editors also receive no royalties for the sale of this book.

Tentative Class Schedule (If this schedule changes, it will be announced in class and on Sakai. Readings listed in Sakai will be the most current version.)

Date Topic Prepare for Class

4/3 Introduction Role of the BFM

Consider the program offices in which you have worked – what role did the BFM play? What were his/her responsibilities? What are the characteristics of (in)effective ones? Be prepared to discuss.

4/10 PPBE Basics Skim “PPBE” reading.

Read DAG, Chapter 1 and review DAU Platinum Card Read news article for in-class exercise

4/17 Cost Concepts Read DAG, Sections 3.1 Read DODI 5000, Enclosure 8 Watch video on Life Cycle Costs

4/24 Cost Estimating Read DODI 5000, Enclosure 10 Read DAG, Section 3.4 Watch Cost Estimating Video

Mid-Term Exam

5/8 Budget Formulation for Acquisition

Read “Budget Formulation and Review” and review samples budget.

Exercises 15-18 from reading.

Skim DoD FMR, Vol. 2B, Ch. 4

5/15 Budget Review Re-read last session reading and review PowerPoint charts 5/22 Budget Execution

& Basic Fiscal Law Read “Budget Execution” Attempt exercises 3, 7 and 9, and be ready to discuss

5/29 Budget Execution, Reporting, and

EVM

Read DAG, Sections 10.10.1.5 through 10.10.1.7 and Section 11.3.1 Watch EVMS video Optional readings in Sakai

6/5 Congress & Defense Acquisition

Read “Federal Budget Process”, section 4.2 Read “Congress and the Defense Budget” Read “Budget Execution,” from 22 May class, sections 6.1 & 6.2 only

Final Exam