Differences in Civil Engineer Perceptions of Change Based on Prior Training and Experience

The Department of Defense (DoD) and the United States Air Force (USAF) have moved toward an aggressive stance to competitively source and privatize (CSP) support functions as much as possible. This move is intended to shrink support costs and redirect the savings to force and equipment modernization. In addition, the USAF hopes to realize improved services, gain access to technology, share risks with contractors, and allow its forces to focus on the core competencies. In order to implement CSP, the USAF communicates information through two major pathways, passive and active. Passive communication is similar to traditional classroom learning where information is read or briefed to subjects. Active training is learning through actual experience. Though both types of training have been proven effective, it is hypothesized that active, or experiential, training positively affects the subject's perception on outsourcing more than passive training. A web-based survey was developed to measure constructs involving perceptions of outsourcing and determine what type of training the subjects had received. Analysis of variance showed no statistically significant differences between these two groups. However, subjects that had received both types of training were overall more negative on their views toward outsourcing.