Using Value-Focused Thinking to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Air Force Utility Privatization

<p>The majority of the Air Force's stateside utility systems are old obsolete and unreliable. The cost to upgrade and repair these systems is currently estimated at over $4 billion. In response the Air Force began efforts to convey ownership of these utility systems to the private sector through privatization efforts. However privatization critics believe that newly privatized entities of government will cost the public more money and provide a lower level of service. Therefore independent audits are a necessity to ensure government initiatives meet their intended goals. However the Air Force currently lacks an effective auditing tool to ensure the efficiency and lower cost associated with utility privatization are balanced with the desired increases in quality reliability and responsiveness of its utility systems. The Value-Focused Thinking methodology was used to create a multi-objective decision analysis model to determine the effectiveness of Air Force utility privatization efforts by evaluating the performance of privatized utility systems. Consisting of 28 bottom-tier values and 47 measures the model captures the majority of the Air Force's objectives and concerns regarding its privatized utility systems. Using notational data the utility systems at eight simulated Air Force installations were evaluated and rank ordered to validate the model. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to provide further insight into the decision making process. The results of this research prove that the model can be an effective decision analysis tool that provides the Air Force insight on the performance of its privatized utility systems.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>