“Good is Not Good Enough” Strategies of Implementing Performance Measures in a Mature and Successful Program

The present Space Shuttle program is one in transition ‐ both from the government agency and the contractor level. NASA is restructuring the management of the Space Shuttle Program by turning over the reins of the day‐to‐day operations to a prime contractor, United Space Alliance ‐ USA (a joint venture partnership with Rockwell and Lockheed Martin). This move is intended to save millions of dollars in costs by eliminating duplicate resources, streamlining operations, and reducing nonessential program requirements. As a contractor, Rockwell, responsible for Orbiter operations and production as well as systems and payload/cargo integration, is also restructuring. All separate shuttle related contracts have been consolidated into one Shuttle Program. While this consolidation effort is taking place, Rockwell, the NASA, and USA are working closely together to provide the American public a Space Shuttle Program that continues to be technically viable, safe, and now more cost effective. Central to the paradigm shift of organizational consolidation is the way people think and do their work and the importance of setting key performance measures for success. This paper deals specifically with the methodology and implementation procedures Rockwell applied in utilizing metrics to measure Shuttle product success. Applying metrics on a new program is difficult enough. But incorporating a formal set of performance measurements into a well established, mature program that is in the process of restructuring is doubly difficult.