A Case Study on DARPA: An Exemplar for Government Strategic Structuring to Foster Innovation?

Advocates for a mission economy contend that government bureaucracy can be transformed through a strategic structuring that would improve upon the dynamic capabilities necessary to pursue and direct innovation. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is touted as a model organization of strategic structuring for inducing public sector innovation of emerging technologies. Applying economic theory and employing empirical analysis, I objectively examine key factors that are attributed to DARPA’s success, such as the organization’s autonomy, small size, and limited tenure of its program managers, in order to assess the worthiness of the agency’s exemplar status of empowering a mission-oriented approach to innovation. I find that while DARPA undoubtedly provides value for national defense and has distinct advantages over other government organizations, it falls short in representing a sustainable and scalable source of strategic structuring that would befit the entrepreneurial state.