The 'Mission to Mars' Case Study, Galbraith's Star Model and other Relevant Organization Theory, Critically Evaluate the Reorganization of the Mars Programme that Resulted from the Introduction of the 'Faster, Better, Cheaper' Approach at NASA

• Main Authors: Felisa Córdova G., Pablo González A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Institute of Informatics and Cybernetics 2017-06-01
• Series: Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics
• Subjects: Pace; Strategy; Organization Theory; Complexity; Technology; Novelty
• Online Access: http://www.iiisci.org/Journal/CV$/sci/pdfs/SA800KW17.pdf

In the 1990s, NASA implemented a programme named "Faster, Better, Cheaper," (FBC) which involved essential changes to the way in which the organization used to be established. It was a huge organizational and transformational effort that required delivering dramatic advances in robustness, flexibility, and efficiency. Nevertheless in 1999, the failures of two consecutive Mars Climate Orbiter and Polar Lander missions brought to a stop of the FBC programme. We critically analyze and evaluate NASA's reorganization across of two models of organization theory such as the Diamond and Star, which show that FBC style needed a super-high-tech, a high level of complexity and novelty, and a time-critical pace. In addition, the majority of the missions' failures were also because of the short schedule, limited budget, and a deficient coordination of the processes management particularly in learning.