The newly published April 2021 edition of the Defense Acquisition Research Journal (ARJ) is now available online for your reading pleasure, for your professional development or of course, for both. With a theme of "Build it Better", this latest edition is stocked with interesting, engaging and timely articles, including:

• Engineering a Better IT Program Manager: A Comparative Study of IT PM Education and Training - This quantitative, exploratory article examines the relationship between Department of Defense information technology (IT) program managers (PMs), their technical education, commercial project management certification, and project management success—also known as project efficiency—for IT PMs. It also examines to what extent project management success in scope, schedule, and cost compares with PMs’ technical education, commercial project management certification, and the effects of interaction between education type and commercial PM certification.
• How to Bail Out a Defense Contractor: Cases on Securing a Supply Chain in extremis – Examines nine cases of bailouts of defense contractors to provide lessons on how to secure a supply chain in extremis.
• Effective Decision-Making Behaviors for Defense R&D: Accounting for Dynamic Competition - R&D decision making is a key source of value and competitive advantage, which can be optimized for the Post-Competition Value (PCV) of R&D opportunities, rather than for their initial value. Applying this new methodology, the authors determine effective decision-making behaviors that enhance the value of R&D investments for defense industry companies, government laboratories, and nonprofits.
• Current Research Resources in Defense Acquisition- Focuses on DevSecOps (Development, Security, Operations).