677. Communicating commander’s intent in a chain of command with multicriteria decision analysis: An experiment in air combat
Invited abstract in session MB-61: Advances in behavioral decision analysis 1, stream Behavioural OR.
Monday, 10:30-12:00Room: Maurice Keyworth G.31
Authors (first author is the speaker)
| 1. | Raimo P. Hämäläinen
|
| Systems Analysis Laboratory, Aalto University, School of Science | |
| 2. | Kai Virtanen
|
| Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis, Aalto University, School of Science | |
| 3. | Heikki Mansikka
|
| Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis, Aalto University | |
| 4. | Mikko Kankaisto
|
| Finnish Air Force |
Abstract
Decision making in a chain of command with a rapid time frame is typical in military and emergency contexts, and yet the topic has received almost no attention in the MCDA literature. The commander’s intent regarding the implementation of an operation is expressed at the top level of the command chain. The statement must be passed through different levels of the chain. Behavioral effects and biases can distort the interpretations of the intent at the lower levels. We introduce a new MCDA approach for supporting communication, planning and decision making in the chain of command. In the approach, criteria weights of an MCDA model are determined by the commander. Then, the commander’s intent is communicated so that the message from the top level also contains these weights, and the MCDA model is utilized on the lower levels. The approach was evaluated in an air force test case. Two air force commanders tested the approach and used five weighting methods, i.e., SMARTER, Direct, Swing, SMART and AHP. They preferred the Direct and Swing methods. Air force staff officers planned the air operations by following the standard and the MCDA-supported planning procedures. The simulation of these operations revealed that the MCDA-supported ones were in better compliance with the commanders’ original intention statements. Thus, the MCDA approach seemed to support the integrity of the command chain as the intent passed through the chain.
Keywords
- Decision Analysis
- Behavioural OR
- Military Operations Research
Status: accepted
Back to the list of papers