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HomeAbout DLANewsNews Article View

# University course promotes industry engagement

By Dianne Ryder

                The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, helps students recognize risks, opportunities and potential changes in private industry.                            20141029_Darden682                            The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, helps students recognize risks, opportunities and potential changes in private industry.            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Andrew ShurtleffVIRIN: 190301-D-YE683-138Strengthening the bond between government and industry, 35 Defense Logistics Agency employees participated in the second iteration of the two-week Insights into Industry Management Course at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

DLA Acquisition

## Industry Empathy

DLA Troop SupportDLA’s Joint Contingency Acquisition Support Office

                DLA Troop Support Integrative Supply Team Chief Supervisor Pamela Tull receives her certificate for completing the Insights into Industry Course from DLA Acquisition Director Matthew Beebe.            

                190301-D-YE683-039            

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## Group Exercises

Students role-played as vendors in practical exercises to discover the myriad factors that go into pricing structures.“The course gave us that insight into what industry is thinking about or what elements they’re considering when they’re estimating their proposals,” Camper said. “It’s not easy; that was a reality check.”Other exercises involved students negotiating as a group with conflicting objectives.“Each of us had our own agenda in terms of what we were trying to achieve,” Camper said.Students were also required to discuss reading assignments and case studies in groups whose members often changed.“We had to collaborate on and come up with a definitive type of solution or a strategy on how we resolved it,” Tull said. “You could see how it was useful to have a diversified group of people because they had perspectives that made you look at things differently as opposed to just the way you see it in your own supply chain.”The best part of the case studies was the group work, Camper said, because participants learned from each other’s unique backgrounds.“Based on their experience and their own knowledge and training that they’ve had, we’re all able to bring our expertise into the conversation,” she said.

 

 

 

## Lessons Learned

A key takeaway for Kenneth Abrams, planning and industrial readiness division chief with DLA Land and Maritime, was the “decision tree,” a model of decisions and their possible consequences.                Charmaine Camper, director of expeditionary contracting in DLA Joint Contingency Acquisition Support Office, receives her certificate for completing the Insights into Industry Course from DLA Acquisition Director Matthew Beebe.                            190301-D-YE683-040                            Charmaine Camper, director of expeditionary contracting in DLA Joint Contingency Acquisition Support Office, receives her certificate for completing the Insights into Industry Course from DLA Acquisition Director Matthew Beebe.            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Photo Courtesy Darden SchoolVIRIN: 190301-D-YE683-040“In the decision tree, you consider the options [and] potential outcomes,” he said. “You’d be hard-pressed to find an absolute perfect decision. You’re going to find a solution that’s best among several others.” 

 

 

## Highly Rated

DLA Logistics Operations

                Robbie Mitchell, a supply systems analyst in DLA Logistics Operations, receives his certificate for completing the Insights into Industry Course from DLA Acquisition Director Matthew Beebe.            

                190301-D-YE683-141            

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“It wasn’t an easy class to take because it was a heavy requirement: a lot of reading, a lot of case studies — and there were three books to read ahead of time,” she said.Tull confirmed the training schedule was rigorous. Whether she was interacting with groups discussing case studies or preparing for projects, it was a constant grind, she said.“It was no cake walk,” she added. “You really were engaged 100 percent of the time.” Although Abrams has recommend-ed the course to colleagues, he cautions that DLA will only send someone it believes can give the agency a return on investment.  As Beebe put it, “This needs to be a quality program. The first thing I did when I attended the closing of the UVA program was congratulate all of them for being selected,” he said.Regarding potential candidates, he noted, “This isn’t just who wants to go; this is somebody who’s viewed to be appropriate from whatever their role is, but also ... that they are of the mindset of the talent that we want to cultivate.” 

## Future Opportunities

DLA Acquisition is building on the success of its programs with UVA and the University of North Carolina to create two other pilot programs.One program, sponsored by DoD’s Human Capital Initiatives, will be a one-for-one talent exchange between the Department of Defense and industry.“Then there’s our own internal rotation program, where we’re sending folks out to industry,” Beebe said. “Each of those is six months.”Beebe expects to send six individuals from DLA’s acquisition workforce to industry for the internal program.“[The military] services have been sending people out to industry for years; we should be doing that too,” he said. “It takes a little time to set up because you have to have an arrangement with these companies, and we’re working off the arrangements that the services already have rather than crafting our own.”Betty Hoapili, chief of acquisition workforce development, said her industry initiatives program manager, Bethanie Healey, has been working hard on industry-focused programs.                  Professor Jared Harris teaches a session during one of the Darden School’s custom programs.                            190301-D-YE683-042                            Professor Jared Harris teaches a session during one of the Darden School’s custom programs.            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Photo Courtesy Darden SchoolVIRIN: 190301-D-YE683-042 “It’s Beth’s initiative and dogged determination that moved these programs forward,” Hoapili said. “We asked the MSCs and [headquarters organizations] who they’d like us to contact ... Beth originally went out to 23 companies.” The response is overwhelmingly positive, she said.One DLA Troop Support employee recently began a 6-month assignment at Deloitte. “And about a dozen more companies want to get involved,” Hoapili said.The other half of the equation is receiving people into DLA from industry.“We deal with acquisition-sensitive information, so it’s a little more complicated,” Beebe said. “Fortunately, [Human Capital Initiatives] is piloting the first real exchange for the department.”Although the programs are currently focused on the acquisition workforce, Beebe said participants need not be restricted to contracting professionals.“Our acquisition workforce is much bigger than contracting,” he said. “There can also be people who are not part of the acquisition workforce who do other things within DLA who could very much benefit from an exchange with industry in some way, an accounting professional or human resources professional [for example].”Finding more ways to engage with industry means a more in-depth dialogue, which Beebe hopes will result in a mutually beneficial arrangement.“That is what these multiple efforts are trying to achieve,” he said.

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