Foreword: Military doctrine and the management of uncertainty

Abstract

Organization theorists have long argued that the management of uncertainty is a major motive of organizational behavior. Military organizations must deal with very high levels of uncertainty. Some uncertainty comes from the international political environment that gives the Military organizations life; some arises from the possibility of direct intervention by formal authorities upon whom the organization depends for critical resources; some emerges from the mixed motives of organizational participants; some arises from the fact that Military organizations do not get much realistic practice; and some arises from the very nature of combat. Doctrine is one of the many ways that militaries address these uncertainties. But doctrine writers make tradeoffs among these problems, tradeoffs that are themselves reflective of the politics of the moment.