Manipulating the OODA Loop

The Overlooked Role of Information Resource Management in Information Warfare

Gregory M. Schechtman

• Publisher: Barakaldo Books
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781839746109
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

A ground-swell of interest in information as a weapon of warfare is growing within the U.S. armed services. Military strategists are looking at information as a tool to leverage our forces and make them irresistible in battle. Yet, there is little agreement as to what information warfare (IW) is, let alone how it is best fought. This fundamental disagreement is serving as an impediment to unified actions as the Air Force seeks its role in this arena. In particular, information resource management practitioners are questioning their role in supporting this mission. This thesis discusses limitations of existing information warfare interpretations in light of Col John R. Boyd's decision model, the Observation-Orientation-Decision-Action (OODA) Loop, and offers a synthesized model of information warfare for use in the Air Force. It then offers information resource management (IRM) as a viable decision-support mechanism in that interpretation. By analyzing the applicability of information resource management to the Air Force IW mission, this thesis proposes a better way to view information: a tool for winning the information war through making superior decisions more rapidly than our opponents. An understanding of how IRM and IW relate to one another will provide a model for achieving and maintaining dominance of this new realm of warfare.

II. Literature Review

Literature pertinent to this thesis falls into two categories. The first category is information resource management (IRM). This category compares and contrasts the differing viewpoints in a prelude to developing a working definition of IRM and describes the IRM principles used in maximizing information utility. The second category is the field of information warfare. It surveys various IW definitions which emphasize different facets of this new field of study. The review concludes with the examination of a form of rational decision-making: Boyd’s OODA Loop.

Information Resource Management

What is IRM?. The treatment of information as an organizational resource has its roots in the late 1970s when a significant number of firms began to treat information as a resource on a par with the more traditional ones of personnel, capital, and land (Diebold, 1979; Horton, 1979; Lewis et al; 1995). The dramatic microprocessor price/performance decreases of the 1980s spurred the use of computers in the management of corporate information (Athey and Zmud, 1988). This was evidenced by the 15% annual growth rate in information investments: the only business area to outpace economic growth (Keen, 1991; Lewis et al; 1995).

Janet Laribee, in her article “Information Resources Management in the Graduate MIS Curriculum: A Survey,” describes how IRM evolved to meet the information needs of the organization:

The field of study of information resource management has evolved to meet these needs through the more efficient use and management of information services and resources (IRM). The concept of IRM has been in existence since 1979 and is considered to be part of the discipline of Management Information Systems (MIS). Although no universal definition exists of this emerging field, it has evolved under the premise that information and its technologies are vital organizational resources and deserve to be managed as skillfully as other factors of production. (Laribee, 1991:16)

This is a considerable change from seeing information as an expense. It recognizes both the benefits inherent in organizational information and that information needs to be cultivated in order to derive the most from it. IRM is then, in its simplest sense, a the set of concepts to be used in the management of information as an organizational resource (Guimaraes, 1988; McCleod, 1990; Newcomer and Caudle, 1986). However, there is some disagreement around the proper identification of the IRM construct (Guimaraes, 1988; Lewis et al, 1995).

Beyond the concepts, IRM can also be seen through a more technological lens where the focus is predominately on computerized information systems (Kercher, 1988; Smith and Medley, 1987). IRM strategies are used to integrate information system specifications (technological capabilities) with customer information requirements for data access (Cox and Forcht, 1994). In this view, IRM is a mechanism through which information technology is mapped to organizational processes and user needs (Cox and Forcht, 1994; Newcomer and Caudle; 1986; Synnott and Gruber, 1981). In spite of the ambiguity surrounding information resource management (Lewis et al, 1995), the underlying premise is that information is a valuable resource to the organization, on a par with personnel, plant, and capital and warrants treatment accordingly (Boynton et al, 1994; Desanctis and Jackson, 1994; Haney, 1989; King and Kraemer, 1988; Lewis et al, 1995; Lytle, 1988; Mahmood and Mann, 1993; Trauth, 1989). Each of these views capture different IRM qualities; together they encompass how information system (IS) professionals view the field.

IRM Historical Development. The idea of IRM within the federal government originated in a report by the Commission on Federal Paperwork in 1979 (Hernon, 1994; Johnson, 1992; Laribee, 1991; Lytle, 1986; Lewis et al, 1995; Owen, 1989; Ryan et al, 1994). “While it was primarily concerned with paperwork burden, the underlying message was that information has value and it must be managed” (Johnson, 1992). Later in the private sector, many firms facing ever increasing information system (IS) budgets also sought ways of improving the return on their IS investments. To better ensure that the organization was able to meet its current and future goals, firms began to change their approach to the application of information technologies (IT).

As early as 1980, the traditional IT structure (consisting of mainframe-based applications; piecemeal automation efforts; scattered networks; incompatible, proprietary hardware platforms; disparate software; and data files which are inaccessible to other information systems) was beginning to be seen as unable to support information growth at the rate necessary to stay viable to the organization over the long run (McCleod, 1995; State of North Carolina, 1996). While computers were originally implemented to support routine repetitive jobs (Davis and Olson, 1985) advances in capability expanded their use past task automation to focus on reporting and decision-making support (Synnott and Gruber, 1981). Yet, even as this occurred, organizations endured systems which consistently fell short of the user’s needs and expectations, were not adaptable, cost more, and took longer to implement than anticipated (Bryce, 1983). The call went out for a means of marshaling the information resources to better benefit the organization. The idea of information resource management was presented as an answer.

In the period since the findings of the original Federal Commission on Paperwork were presented, the IRM directives which have had the widest impact in the federal government are the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, and the Federal Information Resource Management Regulations (FIRMR) (Johnson, 1992; McClure, 1995; Ryan et al, 1995; DAF, 1995c). These three directives outline organizational IRM responsibilities, polices, and procedures for federal agencies and are among the most important legislative documents addressing federal implementation of IRM principles (Cox and Forcht, 1994). In 1996, these were augmented by the Information Technology Management Reform Act.

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (PRA) formalized IRM concepts and is the first major piece of legislation to recognize that information is a valuable resource (Johnson, 1992). The PRA tasks federal agencies with managing information efficiently via following information policies, principles, standards, and guidelines prescribed by the OMB. Its two-fold intent is to reduce private-sector paperwork while simultaneously reducing the federal cost of handling information (Hernon, 1994; Ryan et al, 1994). This is to be accomplished by “ensuring that data processing and telecommunications technologies are acquired and used by the federal government in a manner which improves services delivery” (P.L. 96-511, 1980). PRA also created the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the OMB and ...

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Acknowledgments
• Abstract
• I. Background and Statement of the Problem
• II. Literature Review
• III. Methodology
• IV. Analysis
• V. Conclusions and Recommendations
• Appendix A: Glossary of Acronyms
• Bibliography
• Vita