Modelling command and control: potential negative effects of transferring features of the individual to the organisation
2022 (English)In: Proceedings of the International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (ICCRTS) / [ed] David S. Alberts, 2022Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
Both academics and professionals often claim that individuals in defense enterprises with access to the most relevant information and who possess the best situation awareness should decide upon what to do. This claim is typically interpreted as the person closest to the situation should decide, inferring that closeness automatically provides the best situation awareness. This interpretation is problematical however, partly because the term “situation” is undefined and partly because the individual would have to always be provided with information regarding the whole enterprise and also have the possibility to assimilate this information.
This interpretation is probably influenced by prevalent descriptions or models of command and control (C2). The field of C2 research has developed models of C2 covering several different perspectives. Two distinct classes of models are represented in this paper. First, models stemming from an individual perspective, typically focused on decision-making are highlighted. Second, models focused on a systemic and activities perspective on C2 are presented. We refer to these as reference models. This paper provides a relational analysis between the models of individual decision making and the C2 reference models. The analysis relates key features from the models of individual decision making to cornerstone aspects of the C2 reference models, especially aspects such as centralized/decentralized decision-rights. The discussion covers arguments to why it is important to avoid unreflected and noncritical transfer of features from one class of models to the other.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2022.
Series
ICCRTS, ISSN 2577-1604
Keywords [en]
C2, command and control, models, situation awareness, recognition primed decision-making, Observe-Orient-Decide-Act, variety, individual, organisation, systemic, process
National Category
Other Social Sciences
Research subject
Leadership and Command & Control
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-11272OAI: oai:DiVA.org:fhs-11272DiVA, id: diva2:1724889
Conference
27th International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (ICCRTS), Quebec city, Canada, 25-27 October, 2022
Projects
FoT, Militära professionen, Att skapa och nyttja förmåga att leda
Funder
Swedish Armed Forces, 306314
Note
ISBN 978-0-9997246-1-7 anges på hemsida: https://internationalc2institute.org/27th-iccrts-proceedings-home
2023-01-092023-01-092023-01-09Bibliographically approved