Summary: Management in the Armed Forces
Herbert Strunz
For armed forces an increased and consistent inclusion of economic instruments and methods in the sense of "management” is necessary; many external and internal factors, which cause considerable pressure, point to this fact. An increased economic awareness on a broad basis is undoubtedly is required, above all on the part of military executive personnel. This includes, among other things, an economic and business way of thinking and action in the sense of distinct economic and management awareness. Management knowledge is to be added, i.e. qualification of operations and business management.
An economic master plan must be seen in the context of Public Management. Conditions for this are the establishment of an appropriate basic appreciation of military management increasingly oriented towards economic aspects, the conversion of this basic appreciation into economic thought and action in all fields and on all levels, the development of economic and management-relevant basics with all leaders, and forcing and intensification of economic instruments, methods, and procedures.
In addition, prerequisites for continuous further development and optimizing of instruments, methods and procedures are to be set up, and an increasing use of appropriately trained, qualified personnel in corresponding positions in all fields and on all levels must be ensured. Here, optimizing personnel management, more efficient use of available knowledge, and advanced transfer of knowledge are necessary. An exhaustive introduction of controlling and quality management is required as well.
Public Management guarantees that politics and administration arrange their mutual duties in the form of objects, budgets, and impacts. Additionally, the accomplishment of tasks is designed to achieve effectiveness and efficiency, thus improving the use of methods, and customer and requirements orientation, respectively. An extensive management of the armed forces as an "enterprise”, applying the points of view of Public Management, would contribute to strengthening of strategic command and control on a political level, would make comprehensive delegating of accomplishing tasks to the administrative level possible, would reduce red-tapism, simplify decision-making procedures, increase transparency, effectiveness and efficiency, and would - in the long term - reform organizational culture, so that more performance, sense of responsibility and motivation can be achieved.
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