C2 for Computer Networked Operations: Using Computational Experimentation to Identify Effects on Performance in Organizational Configurations within the Larger Network-Centric Environment; Conference paper with briefing charts

摘要

The role of computer networked operations (CNO) has taken on greater importance with the rise of network-centric warfare. Comprised primarily of defense, attack, and exploitation, the technological capabilities are growing exponentially, as is the rate of data exchange, yet the organizational configurations supporting CNO are slow to anticipate and react. This presents a serious issue in terms of command and control (C2), as such organizations do not fit well with their highly dynamic environments, nor are they suited well to the missions and expectations placed upon them. Contingency Theory offers excellent potential to inform leaders and policy makers regarding how to bring their C2 organizations and approaches into better fit, and hence to improve CNO performance. The key research question is, which organizational configurations provide the best CNO performance within the network-centric environment. Building upon a half century of rich, theoretical and empirical research in Contingency Theory, we construct computational models of CNO set within different organizational configurations taken from both theory and practice, and we employ the method of computational experimentation to examine the comparative performance of such different configurations. Results elucidate important insights into CNO C2, suitable for immediate policy and operational implementation, and expand the growing empirical basis to guide continued research along these lines.