Publisher's Synopsis
Throughout its history the United States Air Forces has fluctuate between centralized and decentralized control of aircraft maintenance. In 1999, the Air Force Chief of Staff directed a study that resulted in the latest shift. This most recent attempt at organizational change placed all aircraft maintenance functions in Air Force wings under the centralized control of a single maintenance group commander. This transformation affected thousands of airmen and provides an excellent opportunity to analyze a substantial organizational change within the hierarchical structure of the United States Air Force. This paper analyzes the processes that Air Force leaders used to determine the necessity for this change, the tools they employed to establish the implementation of the changes they directed, and the methods utilized to ensure the longevity of the transformation efforts. To accomplish this the paper compares actions taken by Air Force leaders to the models offered by some of the leading experts in the field of organizational change and management and offers recommendations for improving future change efforts within the Air Force.
