Systemic Factors Influencing Risk Aversion: Diagnosing Behaviors and Tailoring Interventions for Lasting Transformation

This research seeks to 1) uncover the underlying, largely invisible system pressures on the acquisition workforce in the DoD that influence innovative behaviors, and 2) design interventions that address systemic contributors in order to incentivize lasting behavior changes leading to the kind of cultural change required to meet the National Defense Strategy to block Russia and China and restore America’s competitive edge.

This work is in partnership with the Air Force Installation Contracting Center (AFICC) at Wright Patterson AFB, this research team is one of eight recipients of the highly competitive Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC)  Incubator Award in the category of DoD Organizational Incentives for Agility and Innovation. Work began in August 2021, and the final report describing Phase I findings was produced in June 2022. Phase II took place Oct 2023 – August 2024. Phase IIb and Phase III will commence in September 2024 with the final report completed March 2025.

More details about [SCAD] can be found in our final technical report to the Acquisition Innovation Research Center, where we detail how we’re implementing it with the US Department of Defense.

Researchers

Dr. Mike Rayo
Dr. Amanda Girth
Dr. Laura Maguire
Dr. Morgan Reynolds
Miriam Balkin