Understanding the organizational decision process at the theater Commander-in-Chief level of command

Abstract

This thesis focuses on understanding the organizational decision- making process that occurs at the theater Commander-in-Chief (CINC) level of command during times of conflict or war. This thesis is descriptive in nature and concerns the process used to make decisions: it makes no attempt to judge the appropriateness of the process or the quality of the decisions. Using a video record of a seminar-format war game as a data source, the author viewed a theater CINC level decision-making group, coded the decision, and recorded observations. Subsequent analysis resulted in the generation of hypotheses and conclusions. The author concludes that organizational decision making at the theater CINC level uses a combination of decision processes, with the process depicted by the Carnegie model being the most prevalent. The decision-making group places an emphasis upon goal consensus, and their state of technical knowledge is dependent upon the stability of the external environment.