Strategic Assessment and Development of Interorganizational Influence in the Absence of Hierarchical Authority

The governance of civilian postsecondary education and professional development in the Department of Defense (DoD) is highly decentralized. The many educational institutions, programs, and courses of instruction offered to DoD civilians respond to influence from both within and outside DoD. Institut...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Augustine, Catherine H, Levy, Dina G, Benjamin, Roger W, Bikson, Tora K, Daley, Glenn A
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
CIVILIAN PERSONNEL
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
EDUCATION
Humanities and History
MILITARY PLANNING
ORGANIZATIONS
PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
Personnel Management and Labor Relations
QUALITY
RESEARCH MANAGEMENT
SCHOOLS
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY
SOURCES
STRATEGIC ANALYSIS
TRAINING
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The governance of civilian postsecondary education and professional development in the Department of Defense (DoD) is highly decentralized. The many educational institutions, programs, and courses of instruction offered to DoD civilians respond to influence from both within and outside DoD. Institutions within DoD are typically governed by several formal sponsors and are also influenced by boards of visitors or advisors, accrediting agencies, licensing bodies, and other governing entities that play important roles in the higher education sector outside DoD. In 1998, the DoD Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development was added to the complex multiorganizational network governing civilian postsecondary educational activities as the primary advocate for academic quality and cost-effectiveness. Unlike the formal sponsors, the Chancellor's office was not endowed with hierarchical authority over DoD providers of education. It must therefore rely on other sources of power to achieve its mission of influencing quality and cost-effectiveness. Previous RAND research on strategic planning for the Chancellor's office (Levy et al., 2001) considered possible roles for the office, given its mission and charter. This report extends that work by offering a systematic approach to the assessment of interorganizational influence and strategies for its development in the absence of hierarchical authority. The approach presented here draws on research from social psychology, organizational behavior, and sociology, and is designed for use by the Chancellor's office and other similar organizations participating in the governance of education, training, and professional development (ET&D).