Observing the Loss of Situational Awareness and Tacit Knowledge during Personnel Change-Over in a U.S. Coast Guard Command and Control Environment

Abstract

A Coast Guard Command and Control (C2) Command Center (COMCEN) is responsible for managing missions, planning and executing operations, and coordinating case or incident responses. The success of the C2 COMCEN depends on the quality of situational awareness, a predominant requirement for making decisions and taking action. A key element to accomplish situational awareness is the evolution of rich and powerful tacit knowledge produced by COMCEN personnel. The creation of tacit knowledge is the result of accumulating information, generating explicit knowledge, and combining with personal experience. Experts describe tacit knowledge as a progression of knowledge maturity under the influences external organizational culture as it travels through knowledge life-cycle phases. Management suspects that during the course of the watch and the watch-relief process, knowledge is vulnerable to constraints or degradation, thus affecting the C2 COMCEN’s ability to generate and sustain quality situational awareness. This study examines a C2 COMCEN environment and watch processes by making observations and conducting interviews for understanding influences of knowledge quality. The study also examines the watch environment, where knowledge originates, and how well knowledge flows. The literature review aids the study by providing knowledge research and studies from leading experts in the knowledge field.