Departments

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The DSAR Department provides an integrated sequence of instruction spanning Phase Two of the Eisenhower academic program. The integrated aspect of both the fall and spring curricula provide students with an understanding of the iterative relationship between developing strategy to achieve national objectives and the associated resourcing decisions required both to inform development and execute the resulting plans. The overall DSAR sequence of instruction provides students with the conceptual tools and frameworks to create politically and resource informed plans at the strategic level.

The DSAR lesson materials complement and reinforce related topics presented in other Eisenhower School core courses and specialized academic programs. For example, the resourcing components of the curricula provide a broad understanding of the defense acquisition and logistics processes, as well as a foundation for evaluating the influence of policies and practices on the industrial base and, in turn, on the nation’s security strategy. Similarly, examining the resource constrained trade-offs involved in evaluating alternative defense strategies provides a foundation for evaluating capabilities required to support the military element of national power within the context of competing resource requirements to support other elements of national security and domestic programs.

 
The NSEP Department teaches the Phase 2 core course in National Security and Economic Policy and contributes to the Industry Study Program and the Industry Analytics component of IS. The goal of the NSEP course is to enable students to operate effectively at the strategic level, crafting national-level strategies and policies that integrate national security, economics, and politics. National security-focused lessons educate students to be able to evaluate and integrate a wide range of policy decisions across diverse content areas such as domestic and international politics, military strategy, and informational and technological capabilities. Economics-focused lessons educate students on the concepts of GDP and economic growth, the essentials of fiscal and monetary policy, the challenges of the U.S. Federal debt problem, the principles of international trade and capital flows, the drivers of economic growth in emerging market countries (especially China), and the challenges of economic development. The last portion of the course challenges the students to apply these principles to selected major policy issues, which helps prepare them for the end-of-year National Security and Resource Strategy Exercise.
 
The NSIB course provides students a frameworks with which to apply analytical techniques in assessing the ability of one of 20 selected strategic industrial sectors to support national security in the near- and mid-term. NSIB has two portions, Industry Market & Firm Evaluation and Industry Field Studies: Applied Evaluation, which include modules on “industry analysis” and “international comparative business environments”. The modules constitute a study of the national and global resource bases supporting the national security strategy. Students develop a strategic perspective of an industry, and the impact effect of government policies on that industry, and its role in supporting the materiel requirements of national defense security in normal and emergency conditions.

The program of study for the NSIB courses includes: 1) seminars with discussions facilitated by Eisenhower School faculty, prominent industry and government executives, and academic experts that focus on the critical aspects of the sector under examination; and 2) field study visits to domestic and foreign government agencies, labor, trade and public policy organizations, research facilities, financial institutions, and selected industry exemplars, including government prime and sub-contractor firms. The field-study program provides the laboratory to explore with industry executives and government policy makers those issues and concepts developed in academic research. It facilitates observation and examination of issues in operational settings. The international field study adds the an international dimension of to the comparative industrial analysis, permitting a realistic assessment of the relative performance of U.S. industry and the U.S. economy in a competitive world.

 

The purpose of the Strategic Leadership (SL) course is to develop innovative strategic thinkers and change agents who can create and lead agile, effective organizations to attain and maintain competitive advantage in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous strategic environment.  SL focuses on developing students’ ability to analyze and synthesize internal and external factors that contribute to the development and execution of strategies, policy recommendations, and leading large organizations.  This is accomplished by exposing students to both theory and practitioner-oriented scenarios/exercises designed to enhance the requisite cognitive and interpersonal skills need to effectively lead at the enterprise level.

 

As part of the SL course, students have the opportunity to participate in individual leadership assessment and development opportunities.  U.S. students and native English speakers take advantage of the leading-edge Executive Assessment and Development Program (EADP).  Students who are not native English speakers take the Discovery Insights instrument.  The purpose of these two programs is to increase the student awareness of his/her strengths and weaknesses, and help the student develop the skills needed to become successful strategic leaders and change agents.

 

SL Course Objectives:

• Foster continuous self-assessment and development, including enhanced understanding of the requisite competencies of strategic leaders which include the past CJCS’s Desired Leader Attributes (DLA).

                - DLA 2:  “Anticipate and respond to surprise and uncertainty”

                - DLA 3:  “Anticipate and recognize change and lead transitions”

                - DLA 4:  “Operate on intent through trust, empowerment, and understanding (Mission Command)”

                - DLA 5:  “Make ethical decisions based on the shared values of the Profession of Arms”

• Evaluate the scanning and interpretive skills needed to operate on intent through trust, empowerment, and understanding (Mission Command) in the strategic environment.

• Evaluate the strategic, critical and creative thinking skills needed to anticipate change and respond to surprise and uncertainty, and recognize when change is needed in organizations.

• Evaluate the interpersonal skills needed to operate at the strategic level.

• Develop an improved ability to evaluate the decision-making skills needed to meet the ethical challenges inherent at the strategic level.

• Evaluate the challenges of leading large organizations.

• Create and apply a personal framework to lead in the security environment and conduct strategic leader decision-making.

 


Programs

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 Industry Study 
 
The Long-term Strategy electives concentration not only provides students an opportunity to learn about how to evaluate and assess the strategic implications of the trends shaping the future security environment, but requires them to think seriously about the link between long-term strategy and defense investments. In an intense academic environment, it focuses on student competencies development with an emphasis on:
  • The appraisal of military balances
  • Strategic (long-term) defense planning methodologies
  • The application of “competitive strategies” concepts (functional and investment categories) to strategy development and defense investments
  • The assessment of Asian defense markets dynamics, in the context of military technology diffusion trends
  • Cross-disciplinary approaches to strategy development and resourcing (international affairs, business strategy, and technology)

The geographic focus of the program is the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

 

As the premier course for members of the Defense Acquisition Corps, the Senior Acquisition Course (SAC) prepares military officers and civilians selected to attend the Eisenhower School for critical leadership and staff positions in acquisition. The SAC program consists of the 10-month Eisenhower School curriculum complemented by specialized acquisition-related electives including graduate-level seminars with individual and group research and writing projects. 

Eisenhower School students who have achieved Level III (or equivalent) DAWIA certification in one or more acquisition career fields are eligible to enroll in the Senior Acquisition Course.  Students who complete the SAC program receive a Master of Science in National Security Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School and a Senior Acquisition Course diploma from DAU credited as ACQ 401.

 

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CONCENTRATION

Supply Chain Management is an integrating function with primary responsibility for linking major business functions and business processes within and across companies into a cohesive and high-performing business unit.  It includes all of the logistics management activities, as well as manufacturing operations, and it drives coordination of processes and activities with and across marketing, sales, product design, finance, and information technology.

 

CONCENTRATION OBJECTIVE

The objective of the Supply Chain Management concentration is to develop a whole of government personnel cadre who have an understanding of Department of Defense and commercial supply chain issues, logistics operations and strategies, and are prepared to create and operate supply chains at the strategic and operational levels.

 

CONCENTRATION METHODOLOGY

  • Independent and group research projects to analyze the performance of public and private aspects of Supply Chain Management.
  • Seminar sessions using case studies and experts from industry and government to examine the benefits of Supply Chain Management.
  • Visits to firms and DoD agencies to discuss different perspectives and implementations of Supply Chain Management and the need for logistics transformation.

NDU Scholars Program

The NSP is an optional research program for select students. All masters students at NDU must write an Individual Student Research Paper (ISRP). Your college sets the requirements, credit, and timeline for this paper. They also assign you a faculty research advisor.

The NSP provides students with an alternative means of filling this requirement that includes: a) real-world topics from a variety of stakeholders, b) additional research support, including the possibility of research travel, c) the chance to brief successful projects to sponsoring stakeholders, and d) publication guidance and support. To qualify for these benefits, student research papers must achieve a higher level of scholarship and meet a more aggressive research schedule than the standard ISRP.

The papers require more work and a high level of commitment, but give NDU students the chance to showcase their work to organizations and individuals who care about the topic.

NDU Scholars Fact Sheet

Sample Paper A

Sample Paper B