Role Allocation and Team Structure in Command and Control Teams

Abstract

Defence and security organizations are increasingly faced with uncertain and dynamic global security environments, which are ever more ill-defined, unpredictable, and time pressured. Often highly structured in nature, command and control (C2) in these organizations may not traditionally allow for the adaptability and flexibility required in these complex environments. In response, models of more agile, decentralized organizations such as Edge organizations (EO) have been proposed (e.g., Alberts & Hayes, 2003, 2006). These organizations are described as adaptive, promptly reconfigurable, and highly distributed. EO themselves are at the very end of the continuum as highly decentralized, self-synchronizing, and fluid organizational structures (Alberts & Hayes, 2006). Conceptualized at both the organizational and team levels, EOs are assumed to be more responsive and to provide the agility to adapt to emerging situations and contingencies without preplanning and hierarchical direction. Self-organization and selfsynchronization are considered key capabilities of EOs, and performance in such organizations is thought to be directly related to their capacity for agility (Alberts & Hayes, 2006). Notions akin to EOs date back about 30 years. For instance the organizational psychology and management sciences literature show concepts such as empowered self-management and self-regulating work teams (see Cooney, 2004, for a review). While the concept of a fully decentralized organization put forward in EOs is likely not achievable or, arguably, desirable for military and security organizations, there is a need for increased flexibility and agility to deal with the challenges of the current and future security environments.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2014
Accession Number
ADA607099

Entities

People

  • Alexandre Labrecque
  • Chelsea Kramer
  • Isabelle Turcotte
  • Marie-eve Jobidon
  • Sebastien Tremblay

Organizations

  • Defence Research and Development Canada

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ambiguity
  • Applied Psychology
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cognition
  • Command And Control
  • Crisis Management
  • Emergencies
  • Environment
  • Fuel Tanks
  • Information Exchange
  • Information Systems
  • Organizational Structure
  • Psychology
  • Search And Rescue
  • Self Organizing Systems
  • Simulations
  • Workload

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control