Complexity : the dark side of network-centric warfare

• Military theoretical considerations suggest that a networked command and control architecture will provide a more effective form of command and control under complex operations that demand a high tempo of action. This article presents an experimental study with the purpose to examine team performance under different conditions of command and control architectures and their resilience to complexity. The experiment was performed with the task to extinguish simulated fires in a microworld. Three factors were varied in the experiment: command and control architecture, the number of simulated units, and tempo. The dependent variable was the number of lost cells in the microworld. Three command and control architectures were investigated; command by negation, directive command, and a control condition. The general conclusion from this experiment was that all command and control architectures performed equally poorly under the condition of many subordinate units and fast tempo. This was in contradiction to suggestions made in the military theoretical literature. Command by negation was presumably the more effective command and control architecture under the other conditions.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Mänsklig interaktion med IKT (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Human Aspects of ICT (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Architecture

Command

Complexity

Control

C3Fire

Experimental study

Graphical decision support

Microworld

Network centric

Team performance

Data- och systemvetenskap

Computer Systems Sciences

Informationssystem

Information Systems

Ledningsvetenskap

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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