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Business Strategies

Q&A
Surprise: Q and A with Dave Baiocchi and D. Steven Fox
Dealing with surprises is an important part of many professions. The NFL coach prepares by developing a comprehensive response plan for anything that could happen during the game while the Navy SEALs rely on a looser framework that helps them stay alive and achieve their mission objective.
Aug 14, 2013
Research Brief
The Elements of Surprise: How Professionals Prepare for and Respond to Unexpected Events
This research brief summarizes the findings of a project that sought to identify common strategies used by practitioners in various professions, from professional sports to Navy SEALs, to respond to unexpected events.
Aug 14, 2013
Report
Increasing Flexibility and Agility at the National Reconnaissance Office: Lessons from Modular Design, Occupational Surprise, and Commercial Research and Development Processes
To help the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) become more flexible and agile in an increasingly uncertain world, RAND researched whether the NRO might benefit from building modular satellites and examined how professionals respond to surprise.
Aug 14, 2013
Report
Surprise! How Professionals Prepare for and Respond to the Unexpected
Professionals today are expected to respond to more variables at a faster rate than was the case even a decade ago. What do ambassadors, chief executive officers, military personnel, and physicians believe creates surprise, how do they respond to it, and how can the effects of surprise be mitigated?
Aug 14, 2013
Report
Improving Inventory Management of Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment at Central Issue Facilities
Army Central Issue Facilities (CIFs) do not have a formal mechanism signaling when to review inventory levels and when and whether to requisition items. RAND developed an algorithm that can be used to determine when and what quantity to replenish.
Aug 5, 2013
Report
Identifying and Managing Air Force Sustainment Supply Chain Risks
Examines supply chain risk management, including evolving commercial and Air Force practices.
Jul 2, 2013
Commentary
Metrics Mess Calls for an Umpire, Not a Purge
Bibliometricians, who have so far paid little attention to how their creations behave when released into the wild, should be monitoring how metrics are being applied and devising guidelines for best practice, writes Gemma Derrick.
Jun 27, 2013
Report
Strategically Aligned Family Research: Supporting Soldier and Family Quality of Life Research for Policy Decisionmaking
The U.S. Army wants to develop a research agenda that defines the Quality of Life (QOL) needs of soldiers and families, helps gauge the success of programs, improves coordination of research efforts, and determines how best to allocate resources. Analysis suggests that both domain-specific research and a broader, more holistic understanding of QOL — to put domain-specific research in context — are critical.
May 31, 2013
Report
China Is the Controlling Producer of Materials Critical to U.S. Manufacturing
China is the controlling producer of 11 raw and semi-finished critical materials and has instituted export restrictions that create pressure to move manufacturing to China. Action is needed to mitigate the impact of such market distortions on the global manufacturing sector.
Feb 11, 2013
Commentary
RAND Extends Global Reach of Innovation
Stimulating innovation is important to the economic growth of all countries, regardless of their stages of development. President and CEO Michael Rich discusses how RAND is helping foster technological innovation in China, Europe, and the Middle East.
Feb 4, 2013
Report
A Gap Analysis of Life Cycle Management Commands and Best Purchasing and Supply Management Organizations
The Army Materiel Command (AMC) asked RAND Arroyo Center to review its achievements in implementing best purchasing and supply management practices, and assess how it compares to commercial enterprises. Arroyo found that the AMC is making good progress in the area of personnel education levels, but is losing ground in the area of supplier analysis.
Jan 7, 2013
Journal Article
International Comparative Performance of Mental Health Research
Using data mining techniques, this paper provides a bibliometric assessment of mental health research (MHR) outputs from 1980 to 2011.
Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article
Improving Accountability Through Expanded Measures of Performance
Examines the influence of test-based accountability and explores how states and districts might consider creating expanded systems of measures to address the shortcomings of traditional accountability.
Jan 1, 2013
Journal Article
Information Acquisition in Competitive Markets: An Application to the US Mortgage Market
The authors examine how price commitments impact the amount of information firms acquire about potential customers.
Nov 1, 2012
Report
An Assessment of the Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project
This is a legislatively mandated assessment of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project (AcqDemo).
Oct 11, 2012
Report
Methodologies in Analyzing the Root Causes of Nunn-McCurdy Breaches
Congressional concern with cost overruns in some major defense acquisition programs led to an investigation of root causes in six programs, enabling RAND to develop a methodology for carrying out such analyses.
Sep 27, 2012
Report
Integrating the Department of Defense Supply Chain
Provides a guide for the design and improvement of Department of Defense supply chain policy, structure, and management practices, along with associated opportunities for efficiency gains.
Sep 4, 2012
Report
Root Cause Analyses of Nunn-McCurdy Breaches, Volume 2: Excalibur Artillery Projectile and the Navy Enterprise Resource Planning Program, with an Approach to Analyzing Complexity and Risk
Concern with cost overruns in major defense acquisition programs led Congress to direct investigation of root causes of programs that breached Nunn-McCurdy thresholds. RAND applied its methodology to Excalibur and the Navy's ERP.
Aug 27, 2012
Commentary
Drawing Right Lessons from the Olympic Security Debacle
The way forward is not for the government to say no to outsourcing of sensitive functions, but to think carefully about which efficiency savings are real and which are, instead, a result of introducing a far greater degree of risk, writes James Gilbert.
Jul 25, 2012
Commentary
Revisiting 100% Inspection
It is good that the congressmen have asked the Obama administration to revisit supply chain security. However, precipitous changes to how the global supply chain operates do not seem warranted, may not in fact improve security, and could have costly unintended consequences, writes Henry Willis.
Jul 6, 2012

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RAND Topic:
Business Strategies

Topic Synonyms:
Business Strategy

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Matthew Sargent

Codirector, RAND Center for Applied Network Analysis

Matthew Sargent is a management scientist at RAND, codirector of the Center for Applied Network Analysis, and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, where he teaches the core course in social network analysis. His research spans a variety of subject areas, often focusing on command and…
Joseph C. Chang

Senior Physical Scientist

Joseph Chang is a senior physical scientist at RAND. He has more than 30 years of experience in diverse technical areas, including border security, immigration, chemical security, transportation security, infrastructure protection, risk assessment, operational analysis, analysis of alternatives,…

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