Defining a competency framework to shape the professional education of national security master strategists: a web-based Delphi study

摘要

The purpose of this study was to develop a competency framework to shapedevelopment of a professional education program for master strategists in nationalsecurity. The research problem focused on the absence of a competency frameworkto guide professional education of strategists who must be capable of conceptualizationand innovation master strategists. The outcome of this study was a set of themost important components that constitute a professional education framework formaster strategists.This Web-based study followed a RAND Delphi heuristic model that isqualitative in nature. Instrumentation for the first round consisted of a short vignettethat placed panelists in a unique situation of being able to engage a "time traveler" from 20 years in the future. The time traveler represented a source of perfect knowledge,but could provide only a "yes" or "no" response to panel member questionsconcerning master strategist professional education needs in the year 2022. In the subsequent two Delphi rounds, the instruments consisted of panel member questionsfrom the previous round. The panel of experts consisted of 12 professional strategistsin the field of national security strategy.The results of the study provided support to the description of master strategists asstrategic leaders, strategic theoreticians, and strategic practitioners. Panelistshighlighted four content domains of personal attributes, security framework, theorybasedknowledge, and culture and values that encompass the range of competenciesfor a master strategist professional education framework. Panel members detailed aneed for master strategists to have a higher order temporal perspective to conceivetime as epochs and ages, defined as shifts in development punctuated by events andprominent periods in progress, respectively. Panelists described a master strategistprofessional education framework that mirrored the theory of profound knowledgewith meta-competencies as the basic building blocks.