Monthly Archives: February 2008

Leaving for London…

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I will be spending the next few months based out of London, England. I will be flying back and forth between the UK and the US for conferences and meetings. I will be based at the London School of Economics and Political Science during my time in London. While in the UK, I will be visiting Wales, Nottingham, the Greater Manchester Area, and many more places. Most of my time will be spent connecting with colleagues, doing some writing, and gathering data for my ongoing research projects. For entertainment there will be plenty of friends, rugby, and football to distract me.

Stepping Down as Director of the Institute for National Security Education and Research

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Press Release from the Institute for National Security Education and Research at the University of Washington (http://www.inser.washington.edu)

The UW Institute for National Security Education and Research (INSER) is pleased to announce that, effective February 14, 2008, Dr. Jeffrey Y. Kim, faculty in the Information School, is the new Director of INSER. Jeff Kim has been an instrumental part of INSER since its inception. He was previously Deputy Director of INSER and worked directly under the guidance of Kevin Desouza, the founding director of INSER. During his tenure as Director, Dr. Kevin C. Desouza laid a solid foundation for INSER. Some highlights of his tenure include:

  • Establishing the INSER program through a multi-year grant from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In the first two years of the program, INSER received over $1.1 million dollars of total funding.
  • Establishing and leading an inter-disciplinary group of strategic partners across the UW to partake in INSER programs. INSER partners represent a wide assortment of disciplines including Political Science, International Studies, Engineering, Public Affairs, Physics, Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, Asian Languages and Literature, and Architecture and Urban Planning.
  • Securing INSER’s first inter-disciplinary collaborative research grant through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (OASD-NII) through its Command & Control Research Program and the Center for Edge Power at the Naval Postgraduate School.
  • Delivering several keynote lectures across the country and the globe on matters related to national security, intelligence programs, and sustainable innovation. Most recently, he was invited to give a keynote address at the Intelligence Colloquium hosted by the Tennessee State University’s Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence. Other talks included a presentation at the 2007 Bled Strategic Conference on the invitation of H. E. Dr. Rupel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.

Kevin Desouza will continue in his role as a faculty member at the Information School and as Director of the Institute for Innovation in Information Management at the University of Washington.

Naval Postgraduate School – Edge Project Research Workshop

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I am headed to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California to attend the 6th Edge Project Research Workshop. I am looking forward to exchanging ideas during this meeting. I will be presenting two papers. The first one is funded sponsored in part by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (OASD-NII) through its Command & Control Research Program and the Center for Edge Power at the Naval Postgraduate School. While the second one received partial support from the Centers for Academic Excellence Program at the Office o the Director of National Intelligence via the Institute for National Security Education and Research at the University of Washington.

Performance Measures for Edge Organizations: A Preliminary Report (Authors: Kevin C. Desouza, Sumit Roy, Yuan Lin)

Abstract
Taking an information-processing view of organizations, we address the need for building a robust set of performance measures for Edge Organizations (EOs). Alberts and Hayes in Power to the Edge: Command, Control in the Information Age conceptualized EOs as information-intensive entities whose performance is directly related to their ability for agile information processing. We ask the question, how can we measure the information-processing capacities of EOs? To this end, in this research-in-progress paper, we examine (1) the technical dimension of information flows, (2) the human-dimension of information flows, and (3) the socio-technical dimensions of information flows. The technical dimension represents movement of information between two machine nodes and can be informed by drawing on performance measures for telecommunications network theory. The social dimension represents the movement of information between two human nodes for which we examine the literature on social networks for performance measures. Finally, the socio-technical dimension represents movement of information between human and technical nodes or vice versa. To develop measures for these information flows we must not only extend, and customize, the performance measures from telecommunications networks and social networks, but also draw on measures in the disciplines of decision sciences, information sciences, and organizational science, among others.

Coordination Strategies for Edge Organizations (Authors: Joaquín Herranz, Jr., Kevin C. Desouza, Sumit Roy)

Abstract
This paper provides a critical analysis of coordination strategies related to Alberts and Hayes’ (2003) conceptualization of Edge Organizations (EOs). According to Alberts and Hayes (2003), EOs offer a high-contrast alternative form of coordination when compared to hierarchical structures for command and control (C2). In this view, EOs resemble networks in their form and in their decentralized, adaptive, and dynamic functioning. This paper examines and extends current theoretical understanding of coordination strategies for EOs by providing a three-part analytical critique. The first part examines the EO concept from the critical perspective of organization theory. The second part questions the notion of EOs as an archetypical network form that is best able to combat terrorist organizations. We argue that terrorist organizations represent a range of organizational forms rather than a single network form. Consequently, EOs should likewise represent an adaptive range of organizational forms and coordination strategies. The third part provides a conceptual framework that builds upon the previous critiques and identifies a range of coordinating strategies for EOs that would enable leaders to use an analytical model in determining the strategic and operational trade-offs associated with different coordination strategies in multi-actor complex endeavors. We argue that the effectiveness and efficiency of the EO is related to its coordinating strategy. Consequently, the EO needs to be agile enough to choose the right coordinating strategy given the conditions of its internal and external environments. The internal environment includes the work and task allotments, while external environment considers the issues of coalition partners, goals, strategies, etc. Our paper contributes to building a more robust EO framework by providing a critical analysis of coordination strategies related to Alberts and Hayes’ (2003) re-conceptualization of military organizations as EOs

March 12 – University of Nottingham

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I have just finalized another speaking event in the UK. On March 12, I will visit the University of Nottingham. Dr. George Kuk of the Information Systems Division at Nottingham University Business School will be my host. My talk is titled, "Complexities of Large-Scale Technology Project Failure: A Forensic Analysis of the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority".