Information and Structure - A Case Study: The Battle of Second Manassas

摘要

This paper explores the impact that an army's structure has on an its ability toprocess information and achieve victory on the battlefield. It discusses the following questions. What is information and how is it related to organizations. How does organization structure facilitate or obstruct the flow of information. How does organizational structure affect the ability of the senior leader to make correct decisions. To explore these issues further, they are considered in the context oi the American Civil War Campaign of Second Manassas. Information is a critical organizational resource. Information is a collection of data which has content, meaning and purpose. Organizational structure affects the flow of information within the organization. Organizational structure designates reporting relationships, managerial hierarchy, and the span of control of managers and supervisors. The structure forms the conduits of communication, coordination, and integration of effort among the organization's departments. Communications is the organizational nervous system through which information is transmitted and shared. An organization's structure affects its communications environment. Information may be interpreted, filtered, held, changed, consolidated, delayed or blocked at each level of managerial hierarchy or when moving laterally between organizational subunits. Information may also be misinterpreted or corrupted by mismatched mental models between the sender and receiver of the information. The effects of organizational structure on information flow are examined in the context of the American Civil War Battle of Second Manassas. In August 1862, General John Pope's Army of Virginia opposed General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in Western Virginia.