Case Study of a Prototype Set of Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) for C2 Assessment

摘要

The Command and Control Research Program's (CCRP) recent publication of the 'Code of Best Practice for Experimentation' highlights once again the potential of behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) as an assessment tool for command-staff team performance in the execution of battle command. Interest in BARS as a performance appraisal technique has grown steadily since first proposed in 1963 (Smith and Kendall). The BARS methodology was originally proposed as an appraisal instrument for individuals but has since been applied to team environments. In 1991, the U.S. Army funded research for the development of BARS to support aircrew training (Grubb et al.). In 1999, a comprehensive framework was developed for assessing C4ISR performance in which commander and staff proficiencies would be observed and assessed using carefully developed BARS (Leedom). The intention was to link the assessments to other force effectiveness measures to determine the overall effectiveness of the human-technical system. That proposal led to an ARL funded effort and the development of a prototype set of BARS designed to assess the team proficiencies of a commander and staff in the execution of 'battle command.' This paper describes the use of the prototype BARS in a recent battle lab experiment, and sheds light on future efforts to develop BARS with in the context of Joint services experimentation.