Management and Mismanagement in War - Issues from the Vietnam War.

Abstract

This essay addresses the mismanagement of the war in Vietnam through a study of the principles of management that were violated, overlooked or neglected by key military and civilian leaders in Washington and Saigon during the conduct of the war. Specifically, the paper discusses objectives and measurements, organization, bureaucracy, unity of command and unity of direction as those management concepts applied to the American involvement in the Vietnam War. Likewise, the paper provides an overview of the effects of service roles, missions, doctrine and parochialism from World War II to the Vietnam era. Suggested management improvements for similar future conflicts are provided. This essay was selected to represent the USAWC in the Chairman, JCS Annual Individual Strategy Essay Competition. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 19, 1982
Accession Number
ADA116754

Entities

People

  • Dennis S. Langley

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Department Of State
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Assistance
  • Military Organizations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Organization Theory
  • Personnel Management
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Library and Information Science/ Studies, Southeast Asia Studies, Bibliography of Vietnam and Lao Studies.