SUPPORTING AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE CAPABILITIES THROUGH AN INNOVATIVE PROJECT, PROGRAM AND PORTFOLIO MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION-MAKING MODEL

RESEARCH SUPPORTING AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE CAPABILITIES THROUGH AN INNOVATIVE MULTICRITERIA DECISIONMAKING MODEL

Dr. Darius Danesh is a Fellow Certified Practising Portfolio Executive (FAIPM CPPE) and a Fellow Chartered Professional Engineering Executive (FIEAust CPEng EngExec RPEQ NER APEC Engineer IntPE) with extensive experience in a variety of engineering and leadership roles in the government and private sectors. He has worked across a diverse range of industries including Defence, Infrastructure, Transport, Energy, Oil and Gas, and Mining. We interview him below about P3MDM ® , which offers a pure perspective of the capability challenges in defence , and provides appropriate strategies and resources to simplify examinations of capability options.

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES FACING DEFENCE INDUSTRY?

Project, program and portfolio management activities within the Department of Defence (Defence) involve several factors to achieve a range of long-term strategic and operational outcomes. The success of Defence projects is closely associated with the degree of understanding of its issues and the quality of decisions made as poor judgement reduces efficiency and increases costs. In my opinion;

22 problem and requirements definition, options development and prioritisation, and access to evidence-based decisionmaking tools remain some of the top challenges facing the Defence industry. Many decision-making tools are limited in their capabilities and are unable to fully deal with decisionmaking challenges, resulting in an adverse impact on Defence capability outcomes.

HOW CAN THESE CHALLENGES BE TACKLED EFFECTIVELY?

There are several decision-making tools, most of which are intended to deal with specific characteristics, environments or problems. The limited ability of humans to assess a range of different data within restricted timeframes adversely influences decisions. Moreover, most organisations are seeking a decision-making tool that can accommodate both qualitative and quantitative decision criteria. Although several decision-making methods have been introduced in support of project decision-making functions, each method has its own shortcomings.

The success of Defence projects and capabilities are closely associated with the degree of understanding of its issues and the quality of decisions made as poor judgement reduces efficiency and increases costs.

In order to use appropriate decision-making methods for Defence projects, it is necessary to first understand the main challenges of Defence capabilities and identify the most suitable decision-making tools for dealing with Defence capability issues.

HOW DID YOU SUCCESSFULLY OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES?

In short, I found that there was no single standard decisionmaking method or tool that could support Defence’s strategic decision-making and deal with all its challenges. Therefore, I developed a novel method called P3MDM ® which addresses the shortcomings of former techniques, offers a pure perspective of the capability challenges, and provides appropriate strategies and resources to simplify assessment of capability options. P3MDM ® is capable of analysing both quantitative and qualitative data and simultaneously analyses profit, risks, dependency, tradeoff, uncertainty, and proficiency. It can be incorporated in with other systems/methods or aligned with organisations’ frameworks, policies and standards (e.g., Defence Capability Life Cycle, Smart Buyer and Contestability processes). Also, it can be customised to deal with any type of decision issues considering specific organisational requirements. Moreover, P3MDM ® can assist Defence in presenting viable options to Government to support the management of key Defence assets to achieve the intended capability outcome.

P3MDM® Model (Source: Darius Danesh)

HOW HAS THIS INNOVATION BENEFITED DEFENCE OR OTHER INDUSTRIES?

P3MDM ® offers an improved method through which organisations can strengthen the connection between their objectives and decision functionality, achieve cost savings and minimise risks.

P3MDM ® can simply enhance an organisation’s decisionmaking capability by helping it establish superior processes for selecting options with greater possibilities of returning benefits.

P3MDM ® ’s agility contributes to a stronger and more costeffective Defence agenda, without sacrificing its overall mission. It not only reduces the amount of effort required to manage the budget, but also is effective in lowering costs by providing a rigorous decision-making process.

P3MDM ® is a decision-making framework which can address uncertainty and risks associated with projects with multiple objectives. It enables decision makers to make evidencebased decisions and communicate the outcomes with stakeholders in a transparent and defensible manner.

P3MDM ® is capable of supporting Defence in defining, acquiring, sustaining and disposing of its capabilities. P3MDM ® can be applied at each Gate of the Capability Life Cycle to support the development of documents such as initial business cases and approval strategies and obtaining Government approval to acquire a new capability.

P3MDM ® improves the quality of decision-making by providing an integrated view of capability, ensuring consideration of interdependencies between various elements, and the Fundamental Inputs to Capability (FIC). It provides a mechanism through which the impacts of changing threat

environments, strategic priorities, financial guidance and risks can be explored.

P3MDM ® facilitates data analysis and appropriately enables decision makers to generate the most suitable decisions regarding Defence’s capital and capability investments.

HOW HAS YOUR WORK BEEN ACCEPTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE INDUSTRY?

P3MDM ® has been utilised by many organisations including Defence. The results obtained from several Defence projects indicate that P3MDM ® is practicable and adoptable and provides enhanced situational awareness and the capacity to quickly analyse and cross-examine activities, projects, products, and programs. P3MDM ® identifies problems early in the capability life cycle so that timely remedial actions can be undertaken if necessary.

P3MDM ® has received several awards including an Omega Alpha Association (OAA) Honorary Recognition and a commendation at the AIPM 2018 Project Management Achievement Awards. It was also nominated as a finalist in three categories of the Australian Defence Industry Awards in 2019 which showcases Australia’s top defence industry businesses and professionals, recognising their contribution in supporting national security and in driving innovation, economic growth and workforce development.

Acknowledgment: The development of P3MDM ® has been a challenging, exciting and knowledge-gaining journey and could not have been successful without the support of Professor Michael Ryan from the UNSW. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Ryan for his continued support.