Engineering the Organization: Is USACE Doing it Right

: What is the most effective district structure to reduce cost growth of military construction projects for the United States Army Corps of Engineers? Leaders assess the requirements for the organization when designing the management structure. The structure determines how the organization manages their business processes. The current structure of the USACE districts contributes to project cost growth and additional costs to combatant commands, service component commands, and local installations. The additional project costs prevent customers from using funds for other projects, causing a hostile relationship between the customer and the district. The fear of project growth causes customers to choose different administrating agents on projects where USACE does not have primacy. The USACE districts' primary function for military construction projects is project management. Army engineer brigades also conduct project management, but experience less project growth. While the USACE matrix structure contributes to cost increases, the Army engineer brigades' hybrid structure reduces the opportunity for growth by regulating the span of control, establishing differentiation of managerial levels, horizontally integrating the employees, managing employee specialization, and centralizing control of the employees. Assessing the organizational structure through the project selection, planning, design, and execution phases demonstrates how the USACE districts could benefit from a hybrid structure like Army engineer brigades.