| This research study explored the theoretical underpinnings of implementing government reform in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), specifically focusing on a management philosophy called "Faster, Better, Cheaper" (FBC). It is situated within the broader context of Government reform efforts that attempt to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government organizations in their delivery of products and services to the public.; This study employed the Grounded Theory qualitative research methodology that concentrates on a central phenomenon and generates a theory from a category or "construct-oriented" approach. The objective is to generate a substantive-level theory that describes the practice of FBC within NASA and is "grounded" in the data collected from the organization. The following research questions guided this study: (1) What is the meaning of "Faster, Better, Cheaper" for Public Professionals in the NASA organizational environment? (2) What are the interrelationships between concepts of "faster", "better", and "cheaper"? (3) How does the technical and cultural structure of NASA influence the implementation of "Faster, Better, Cheaper"? (4) What are the required workforce capabilities to perform "Faster, Better, Cheaper" in NASA?; The theoretical sample for this study consisted of interviews scheduled with NASA personnel involved in "Faster, Better, Cheaper" projects. NASA documents and reports were analyzed to saturate the initial 29 provisional categories. A representation of the phenomenon of FBC was developed following the data analysis, including causal conditions, strategies, environmental conditions and context, and consequences. Several findings addressed the meaning of FBC, the interrelationships between the concepts, the impact of organizational infrastructure, and required workforce capabilities. Topics for future research are the nature of risk in public organizations, tools for aligning and measuring public policy alignment and implementation, leadership of public sector teams, and generalizing the findings to other organizations. |
