Research Summaries

Back Military Innovation, Organizational Learning, and Performance in Irregular Warfare in Afghanistan

Fiscal Year 2012
Division School of International Graduate Studies
Department National Security Affairs
Investigator(s) Russell, James A.
Moran, Daniel J.
Sponsor Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (DoD)
Summary This project aims to enhance the organizational capabilities of US military units to meet this challenge by gaining an in-depth understanding of these important processes, the enablers and barriers that influence them, and the ways they affect the units' outcomes on the battlefield. We propose to do this by conducting an inductive field study in which we will investigate the different ways a variety of US military units have engaged in these processes when deployed in full spectrum operations in Afghanistan, as well as their use of resulting technologies and procedures. The investigators will give special emphasis to methodologies and tools that allow the shortening of units' learning cycles by following a subsample of the units from pre-deployment to post-deployment. For a broader understanding and additional lessons learned and best practices, we will also study partner ISAF, Israeli Defense Forces, and enemy units. The project builds upon an earlier study on innovation and adaptation in units operating in Iraq during 2005-2007, incorporating organizational and management frameworks, thus deepening our understanding of these critical capacities and providing lessons learned for current and future irregular warfare theaters.
Keywords
Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal