Organizing on the Edge: Appreciation and Critique

Abstract

The author is part of a team of researchers that is collaborating with a number of scholars affiliated with the Center for Edge Power, headquartered at the Naval Postgraduate School. Their project stems from an effort stimulated by the recent work of David S. Alberts and Richard E. Hayes, "Power to the Edge: Command, Control in the Information Age" (2003). The author places the "edge" perspective in the broader context of organizational studies, noting both its strengths and limitations. After briefly describing and commenting on the concept of edge organizations, he raises a number of questions and concerns which he believes need to be addressed to render the approach more usable for military organizations. Specifically, the critique discusses the following issues: (1) lack of attention to human/social issues, (2) inadequate attention to nonmilitary organizations, (3) insufficient attention to the wider environment in which military organizations operate, and (4) lack of consideration of the problems associated with organizational change.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA463505

Entities

People

  • W. R. Scott

Organizations

  • Stanford University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Climate Change
  • Command And Control
  • Community Of Practice
  • Electronics Industry
  • Information Processing
  • International Organizations
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Personnel
  • New York
  • Nongovernmental Organizations
  • Organizational Structure
  • Security
  • Social Problems
  • Sociology
  • Training

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Theoretical Analysis.