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The fog of the future ; A quest for the unknown ~ Royal Netherlands Army‟s strategic competencies and its critical knowledge

Berg, Henrieke van den (2011) The fog of the future ; A quest for the unknown ~ Royal Netherlands Army‟s strategic competencies and its critical knowledge.

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Abstract:The Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA) is characterized by rational and predictable behavior, such as hierarchical structure and planning and control processes, that fits within the old economy. In the current new economy such characteristics are less appropriate because an organization needs to be able to respond adequately to dynamic environmental changes. For an organization to be flexible, but that also secures its continuity, value is created by the leverage of resources. An important factor for successful leverage of resources are strategic competencies. Strategic competencies are abilities of senior management to leverage resources in order to respond to dynamic environmental developments. These strategic competencies are preserved and strengthened by critical knowledge. Critical knowledge is knowledge that is unique, idiosyncratic, scarce and not easily transferable or replicable. Therefore the research question is: What are RNLA’s strategic competencies and which knowledge is critical for preserving and strengthening these competencies in order to respond to dynamic environmental developments within the setting of the authorizing environment the Ministry of Defense? First, two strategic competencies are identified. Firstly, the facilitation of strategic transformation that refers to the flexibility of the organization to continuously change adequately and to leverage resources differently in time in order to keep focus on long term effectiveness while considering the dynamic environment. The main effect of this strategic competence is increased organizational adaptability and agility. Secondly, the stimulation of multilateralism, that is a framework of many forms of (global) partnerships which supports (non) governmental (military) organizations in coping with today‟s dynamic environment. The main effects of the stimulation of multilateralism are a) the creation of a critical mass, b) improvement of owns‟ and partners‟ capabilities and c) cost-effectiveness. Second, as expected, critical knowledge is difficult to identify. It has an implicit and/or tacit character shared in a group of people as a collective memory, that is dynamic. Critical knowledge concerns meta- and situational knowledge, such as know-when-why and know-where-which. The overall recommendation is to learn more about and increase intra- and inter organizational knowledge sharing and collaboration on strategic level/in strategic settings. Five sub recommendations are identified: Learn more about and increase intra- and inter organizational knowledge sharing (…) → Formulate a brief vision (strategic map) that is easy to communicate to personnel → Update organizational procedures to enhance timely decision-making and/or increase the organizational anticipation function → Keep speed in the acquisition process of military equipment to become more interoperable (…) and collaboration on strategic level/in strategic settings → Investigate in what extent and on which area autonomy is preferred above collaboration → Overcome cultural and organizational differences between military organizational parts; and between military and civilian experts By learning more about and increasing intra- and inter organizational knowledge sharing and collaboration on strategic level/in strategic settings the RNLA is able to adhere to two goals, namely to be able to respond to dynamical environmental changes while securing the organizational continuity. By that the RNLA secures its long term success and is able to fulfill their tasks and deliver value to the Netherlands society.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration MSc (60644)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/62998
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