Missionland, a multinational co-operation program to construct and share a generic mission simulation environment

A simulation environment is a virtual representation of the real-world natural and cultural environment. Such an environment contains dynamic elements, for example weather, time of day and moving vehicles, as well as static elements, for example vegetation, buildings and infrastructure. When performing distributed (joint) simulations a number of problems exist concerning the selection and use of a simulation environment. These problems can either be caused by the different requirements of the participating users or by different technical capabilities. As training via distributed mission simulation has the potential to enhance force readiness and operational effectiveness in coalition operations, these problems with the environment representation should be solved. Normally, this can be done by correlating existing environment databases, but that is costly, both in effort and in money, and the end-result will always be hampered by technical incompatibilities. It also does not address security and political limitations. Therefore it is preferable to create a generic and geo-unspecific simulation environment, Missionland

ILR Research in Progress 2011-12

The production of scholarly research continues to be one of the primary missions of the ILR School. During a typical academic year, ILR faculty members published or had accepted for publication over 25 books, edited volumes, and monographs, 170 articles and chapters in edited volumes, numerous book reviews. In addition, a large number of manuscripts were submitted for publication, presented at professional association meetings, or circulated in working paper form. Our faculty's research continues to find its way into the very best industrial relations, social science and statistics journals.Research_in_Progress_2011_12.pdf: 46 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Forging Tomorrow\u27s Air, Space, and Cyber War Fighters: Recommendations for Integration and Development

Today’s Airmen operate in contested environments, and years of technical-data spillage, coupled with policies emphasizing commercial-off-the-shelf acquisition, ensure that the immediate future will remain contested as our adversaries seek to exploit level playing fields. Long gone are the days of Operation Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom when air superiority dominated and the supporting elements of space, communications, and computers were largely out of reach for many nation-states. Since then, technology has become ubiquitously intertwined in weapon systems and today largely turns the gears of warfare, allowing a range of actors to erode national instruments of power

Distributed Interactive Simulation: Operational Concept Draft 2.2

Report to present the operational concept for distributed interactive simulation, with the understanding that DIS will evolve over time as more participants in training and testing communities articulate their requirements

A One Health Evaluation of the Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance

Rooted in the recognition that emerging infectious diseases occur at the interface of human, animal, and ecosystem health, the Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS) initiative aims to promote a trans-sectoral approach to address better infectious disease risk management in five countries of the Southern African Development Community. Nine years after SACIDS’ inception, this study aimed to evaluate the program by applying a One Health (OH) evaluation framework developed by the Network for Evaluation of One Health (NEOH). The evaluation included a description of the context and the initiative, illustration of the theory of change, identification of outputs and outcomes, and assessment of the One Healthness. The latter is the sum of characteristics that defines an integrated approach and includes OH thinking, OH planning, OH working, sharing infrastructure, learning infrastructure, and systemic organization. The protocols made available by NEOH were used to develop data collection protocols and identify the study design. The framework relies on a mixed methods approach by combining a descriptive and qualitative assessment with a semi-quantitative evaluation (scoring). Data for the analysis were gathered during a document review, in group and individual interviews and in an online survey. Operational aspects (i.e., OH thinking, planning, and working) were found to be balanced overall with the highest score in the planning dimension, whereas the infrastructure (learning infrastructure, systemic organization, and sharing infrastructure) was high for the first two dimensions, but low for sharing. The OH index calculated was 0.359, and the OH ratio calculated was 1.495. The program was praised for its great innovative energy in a difficult landscape dominated by poor infrastructure and its ability to create awareness for OH and enthuse people for the concept; training of people and networking. Shortcomings were identified regarding the balance of contributions, funds and activities across member countries in the South, lack of data sharing, unequal allocation of resources, top-down management structures, and limited horizontal collaboration. Despite these challenges, SACIDS is perceived to be an effective agent in tackling infectious diseases in an integrated manner

An evaluation of cultural integration and the malleability of socio-cultural constructs in global organizations

This study responds to calls for pragmatic context-driven scholarship to evaluate the perceived need for cultural integration in global organizations. This paper aims to fill the gap between theoretical frameworks and contemporary phenomena with a grounded theory, quantitative ethnography study designed to explore the perceived need for cultural integration to improve business outcomes in global organizations, while also evaluating the perceived need for a dedicated framework to develop cultural integration to shift socio-cultural epistemic frames in global teams. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with 18 global executives, while 173 surveys were completed by global team members. Analysis of the dataset was done through thematic content analysis and epistemic network analysis. The research demonstrated that cultural integration, and its associated constructs, were perceived as critical to group and organizational success. Global executives and leaders confirmed the need for a dedicated framework for cultural integration to improve business outcomes. The current study addressed four research questions: To what extent is there a perceived need for Cultural integration in global organizations? To what extent is Cultural integration perceived relevant to business outcomes in global organizations? To what extent do leaders perceive socio-cultural epistemic frames are malleable at the group level? To what extent is there a perceived need for a dedicated framework to develop Cultural integration to shift socio-cultural epistemic frames in global teams? This empirical study confirms that socio-cultural epistemic frames are malleable at the group level to develop cultural integration and that there is a perceived need for a dedicated framework to develop cultural integration for improved business outcomes in global organizations