The Command or Control Dilemma

In an information-age military, the proper organizational orientation may no longer be one of command and control, but command or control. Historically, the military's response to new information technology has always been greater centralized control. Unfortunately, greater centralized control is the exact opposite of what is desired to maximize the full benefits of information technology. As the tempo of operations increases, so does the demand for faster decision making. Information technology, however, is creating a faster information gathering cycle, but not a correspondingly faster decision making cycle. This creates an imbalance, which can only be corrected by the proper organizational orientation that takes full advantage of information. The information-age military needs the shared information gathering advantages of a networked organization with the decentralized decision making advantages of a flattened hierarchical organization. Failure to adapt to a new organizational orientation of decentralized control may result in a U.S. military unable to operate at the increased tempo of future warfare.

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