Organizing for Improved Effectiveness in Networked Operations

摘要

The effectiveness of a networked force depends on many factors, one of which is how we choose to organize it. But how should we measure organizational effectiveness? There are few quantifiable metrics that can discriminate between various networked forces that differ solely in their arrangement, and fewer still that can consistently discriminate between configurations that differ by a single link, regardless of the significance of that link. The research presented in this paper aimed to gain insight into how an Information Age combat force should be organized by presenting an initial attempt to determine the utility of the Perron-Frobenius Eigenvalue (λ_(PFE)) as a measure of the effectiveness of the organization of a networked force. The results of this work indicate that the value of the λ_(PFE) is a significant measurement of the performance of a networked force, but that this significance depends on the existence of unique λ_(PFE) values for the configurations under consideration. However, the utility of the λ_(PFE) can be enhanced by adding a measurement we introduce in this paper called robustness to improve the effectiveness of the λ_(PFE) value as a quantifiable metric of network performance.