The military as a learning organisation: establishing the fundamentals of best-practice in lessons-learned

The post-Cold War era has witnessed the rapid expansion of organisational learning initiatives within NATO militaries, especially formal “lessons-learned” processes. The effectiveness of national lessons-learned processes in recalibrating military activity to the demands of ongoing operations has been highly-differentiated. However, the academic literature on military change and practitioner guidance has been slow to investigate the key features of best-practice in military learning. This article breaks new ground by drawing upon the literature on dynamic organisational capabilities to explore the fundamental organisational processes and activities which are necessary to implement successful lessons-learned. It examines, in particular, the organisational features which facilitate “knowledge transformation”: the effective combination of new knowledge gained from intra- and inter-organisational learning with existing organisational knowledge. The article concludes by highlighting several potential future empirical and theoretical research agendas in military learning and the importance of engagement between lessons-learned practitioners and organisational learning scholars.     

美国国防部后勤转型

简要介绍了美军后勤的定义与管理构架,分析了美国国防部（DoD）后勤转型的背景和实施过程,研究了DOD后勤转型的特点,并结合军队后勤体制变革总结几点启示。     

一种基于扩展控制流图的DA交互结构表示方法

程序控制流图不能表示DA交互发生点处实际执行的SQL语句,因而不能清晰地表示出程序数据库的交互过程。针对该问题提出了用有限状态自动机表示DMLSQL语句,根据自动机的运行过程确定交互语句使用或定义的数据对象,并利用此信息生成表示交互语句的结点,以扩展CFG。实验表明,经过扩展后的ECFG能够直观地表示DA程序中与数据库的交互结构。     

双处理器的图像跟踪系统硬件平台设计

通过分析装甲车车载图像跟踪系统的任务和应用环境,设计了以TMS320C6202数字信号处理器(DSP)为核心,结合PC104嵌入式计算机的双处理器并行处理硬件平台;详细介绍了利用大规模FPGA芯片实现系统总线仲裁和逻辑控制的设计思想;并给出了体现系统智能化程度的--DSP模块的程序智能加载技术以及其实现方法.实际系统测试表明该硬件平台能满足图像跟踪系统的实时性、可扩展性、稳定性的要求,为装甲战车的数字化改造提供了可靠的保障.     

基于层次方法和PCA特征变换的宫颈细胞识别

对宫颈细胞多分类,可以自动识别出不同状态的细胞,进而为宫颈癌诊断提供科学依据。在用6种多分类算法实验后,选取支持向量机（SVM）作为基分类器,先用一对一策略（one- versus -one）训练6个分类器进行3分类,然后再训练1个2分类器,这种二层4分类方法提高了识别准确率。又考虑不同层特征模式的差异性,在保证识别性能同时,每层分类前先采用主成分分析（PCA）法将原始154维特征变换到低维空间,去除冗余特征,加快识别速度。实验证明,所提层次PCA法在宫颈细胞分类中相比6种传统多分类方法有更高的识别准确率,可达90%以上;识别速度也较普通层次法提升了21.31%。     

Dynamic pricing in a trade-in program with replacement and new customers

Trade-in programs have been widely adopted to enhance repeat purchase from replacement customers. Considering that a market consists of replacement and new segments, we study the joint and dynamic decisions on the selling price of new product (hereafter, “selling price”) and the trade-in price involved in the program. By adopting a vertical product differentiation choice model, we investigate two scenarios in this paper. In the base model, the manufacturer has sufficiently large production capacity to fulfill the customer demand. We characterize the structural properties of the joint pricing decisions and compare them with the optimal pricing policy under regular selling. We further propose a semi-dynamic trade-in program, under which the new product is sold at a fixed price and the trade-in price can be adjusted dynamically. Numerical experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the dynamic and semi-dynamic trade-in programs. In an extended model, we consider the scenario in which the manufacturer stocks a batch of new products in the beginning of the selling horizon and the inventory cannot be replenished. Following a revenue management framework, we characterize the structural properties with respect to time period and inventory level of new products.     

A guarantee rate optimization model for wastewater treatment system design under uncertainty

We consider a design problem for wastewater treatment systems that considers uncertainty in pollutant concentration levels at water sources. The goal is to optimize the selection of treatment technologies and pipeline connections, so that treated wastewater can achieve specified effluents discharge limits as well as possible. We propose a new two-stage model to optimize a set of guarantee levels, that is, the maximum concentration level of source pollutants for which treated wastewater can be compliant with discharge limits. In the first stage, treatment technologies and pipeline connections are selected. In the second stage, when pollutant concentration levels are revealed, wastewater distribution and mixing are determined. A key attractiveness of the proposed guarantee rate optimization model is that it can be simplified into a single-stage mixed-integer linear program. In our numerical experiments based on real-world pollutants data, the guarantee rate model demonstrates its advantages in terms of computational efficiency, scalability and solution quality, compared with the standard probability maximization model. Finally, the methodology proposed in this paper can also be applied to other two-stage problems under uncertainty with similar uncertainty characteristics.     

Governmental Re-organization in Counterinsurgency Context: Foreign Policy Program Transfer and Operation Switchback in South Vietnam

Foreign policy program transfer, the shifting of implementation responsibility for a foreign policy program from one organization to another, is a ubiquitous, yet under-studied, counterinsurgency phenomenon. This article conceptually develops program transfer as an important object of study; analyzes, using archival sources, an empirical case of program transfer, Operation Switchback, drawn from US counterinsurgency practice in South Vietnam; and formulates two preliminary theoretical claims related to program transfer: (1) transferred programs will tend to be altered in accordance with the characteristics of the gaining organization, and (2) program transfer may act as a signal or early-warning indicator of foreign policy change.     

美军采办项目的采办策略分析

采办策略是美军针对具体采办项目强制规定的覆盖整个项目寿命周期的纲领性文件,对于保障在资源限制条件下达成项目采办目标具有重要的意义。本文首先分析了采办策略的概念,随后研究了采办策略的主要内容、与采办管理周期的匹配要求,最后提出了对我军装备采办改革的启示。     

Quarrelsome committees in US defense acquisition: the KC-X case

When the US Air Force set out to acquire a new aerial tanker (the KC-X), two highly suitable alternatives were offered. What could have been a short and simple source selection turned into a prolonged embarrassment. The original selection of 100 leased KC-767s was made in May 2003. But the KC-46 is expected to be operational in 2017 – more than a decade later. Our primary purpose here is to narrate and explain key events in the KC-X program. We search for useful paradigms, based in part on the US Government being better viewed as a quarrelsome committee than a monopsonist. In addition, we consider what this case might tell us about the US defense acquisition system.