Information Systems Technician Rating Stakeholders: Implications for Effective Performance

The U.S. Navy is organized by five warfare enterprises and with various providers that contribute services, materiel, and human resources to achieve overall readiness. This system is characterized by complex networks of organizations with disparate goals and priorities. For example, the relative emphases on efficiency and effectiveness vary throughout this enterprise system. The Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services CANES initiative is designed to consolidate and improve the networks on tactical platforms with a common computing environment. This consolidation was intended to result in greater training and operating effectiveness, specifically for information technology enlisted personnel. The greater effectiveness could increase performance or be translated into efficiency savings. However, preceding research Thie et al., 2009 indicated that the complex pattern of stakeholders involved in the manpower, training, and personnel processes for the IT rating confounded the pursuit of increased effectiveness. This report describes the relationship among stakeholders involved in the manpower, personnel, and training processes for information technology personnel. For comparison purposes, the report also describes the stakeholder relationships for two other Navy ratings hospital corpsman and Aegis firecontrolman, as well as an IT rating counterpart in Air Force cyber operations. This effort is intended to contribute to maximizing the performance outcomes from technology insertion, create greater awareness of and support for effectiveness as an objective, highlight the conflicting stakeholder patterns that shift decisions away from effectiveness, and recognize decision tradeoffs. Further, the intent of the report is to provide insights for IT stakeholders regarding the organizations with which they interact, and to facilitate better interaction among those stakeholders.