General Information¹

The central focus of Defense Resources Management Institute (DRMI) education is for analytical decision making. The emphasis is on the concepts, techniques, and issues that pervade defense resources management decision making in most mid-level through executive-level positions. Each course provides a multi-disciplinary program which encourages participants to:

• Develop an understanding of concepts, principles, methods and techniques drawn from:
  • Management theory - examination of the current state of management thought and organized action;
  • Economic reasoning - topics dealing with the basic tenet of scarcity of resources relative to competing needs and wants; and
  • Quantitative reasoning - the basic language and analytic tools which are the foundation of modern decision theory.
• Integrate these ideas into a systematic process for resources allocation decision making and effective resource utilization, and apply these concepts to illustrative examples of:
  • Allocating scarce resources to competing needs;
  • Analyzing and evaluating management systems, programs and policies; and
  • Maximizing benefits within existing resource constraints, or minimizing resource consumption to achieve a predetermined level of benefit.

Course information

Conducted two times each year for military 0-4 and above and equivalent government civilians. The major curricula concept of this course is comparative resources management, i.e., the examination of theories and practices of various nations, not only those of the U.S. The course stresses that each country is unique and countries must choose resource management systems unique to their requirements and capabilities. The first part of the course examines basic management concepts and techniques and is similar to the DRMC [Defense Resources Management Course, no. P162002], but is expanded in scope and depth of examination. Lectures are complemented and supplemented by all of the instructional activities. In the second half of the course, defense management concepts are examined in terms of financial, material (logistics), and human resources management systems, and management information systems. These are studies in the overall context of three principal phases of management activity - strategic planning, implementation and operations. Continuing emphasis is placed on the comparative evaluation of various systems. Applications of the use of microcomputers in analytic activity are included where appropriate.

Source:

¹ United States, Defense Security Assistance Agency, Expanded IMET Handbook, (Washington: February 14, 1997) I-1, I-2.