Improving Interagency Coordination and Unity of Effort: An Organizational Analysis of the Contemporary Provincial Reconstruction Team

Abstract

This research seeks to answer one primary research question: What organizational and institutional factors are hindering effective interagency coordination and unity of effort within the contemporary Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT)? To answer this question, this research conducts a comparative analysis between two case studies; a current operational-level PRT and a PRT-equivalent organization that operated during Vietnam. It logically focuses and justifies analytical results based upon sound measures of effectiveness drawn from Mary Jo Hatch's Organization Theory. These measures of effectiveness focus on Hatch's organizational core concepts of environment, social structure, technology, culture, and physical structure. Applying these measures of effectiveness along with the application of the three perspectives of modernism, symbolic-interpretivism and postmodernism enables a complete examination of the contemporary and historical PRT organizations, identifying those factors that inhibit or promote effective interagency coordination and unity of effort. This research demonstrates that while hierarchical control is certainly a critical organizational factor driving interagency coordination and unity of effort within the PRT, it is not the only factor. Analyzing both cases studies, this research reveals that other factors such as a favorable security environment, cross-cultural functional teaming, charismatic leadership that embraces cultural differences in pursuit of a PRT-wide identity, integrative technologies, and physical structure are also essential to producing a cohesive and optimal PRT system that maximizes interagency coordination and unity of effort. Finally, this research shows that there is a pressing need for interagency doctrine that drives institutional interagency training and leadership programs.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 20, 2010
Accession Number
ADA523250

Entities

People

  • John H. Rogan

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Case Studies
  • Department Of State
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Geography
  • Interagency Coordination
  • International Organizations
  • Measures Of Effectiveness
  • Military History
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Organization Theory
  • Organizational Structure
  • Training
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.