Understanding and Leading Porous Network Organizations: An Analysis Based on the 7-S Model

Abstract

Increasingly, organizations are formed by individuals and groups that share common interests and goals but are not tied to each other by traditional authorities or financial relationships. Membership in these new organizations tends to shift over time as the environment changes, participants enter and leave, and roles, activities, and interests of members evolve. This evolving organizational structure can be described as an open or porous network, one in which the boundaries are highly permeable across functional interest areas within the organization, as well as between the organization and the external environment.1 In late 2007, the Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP) at National Defense University launched an international research project called Transportable Infrastructures for Development and Emergency Support (TIDES) as part of a broader research effort called Sustainable Technologies, Accelerated Research (STAR).2 STAR-TIDES projects, conducted mostly by volunteers from around the world,3 together with a small core team at CTNSP, seek to develop and share knowledge and technologies to enhance the capacity of disparate groups to respond effectively to disasters and humanitarian crises. With participants from government, academia, industry, and non-profit organizations, the STAR-TIDES organization fits the pattern of an open, porous network. From late 2007 through mid-2009, STAR-TIDES sponsored 14 field demonstrations, displays, and field observations of novel, low-cost approaches for providing emergency shelter and life support to stressed populations. It also has supported decisionmakers and field operators in real-world contingencies, such as rural brushfires and tropical cyclones.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA507804

Entities

People

  • Linton Wells Ii
  • Paul T. Bartone

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biological Sciences
  • California
  • Communication Systems
  • Department Of Defense
  • Disasters
  • Electronic Mail
  • Governments
  • Information Exchange
  • International Relations
  • Logistics
  • Military Personnel
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Test And Evaluation
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies