Read Online

Compensating for Incomplete Domain Knowledge

by Lynn Scott, Steve Drezner, Rachel Rue, Jesse Reyes

Download

Download eBook for Free

Full Document

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.5 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Summary Only

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.1 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Purchase

Purchase Print Copy

 FormatList Price Price
Add to Cart Paperback78 pages $23.00 $18.40 20% Web Discount

It is not always possible for the Air Force to assign someone with all possible desirable qualifications to a specific job. Senior leaders compensate for such things as lack of technical knowledge or functional experience by using compensating competencies. To discover what these are and how they are used, the authors interviewed 27 senior officers and civilians and found the techniques fell into four general categories: enterprise knowledge, integration skills, problem-solving skills, and people skills. Leaders who need more domain knowledge can use these to gain more and to leverage the staff for developing solutions and making decisions. But even leaders with high levels of knowledge find these competencies immediately useful, facilitating work with expert subordinates, complex integrations, and proven domain-specific strategies. Moreover, these competencies are teachable, so the Air Force should develop them through its education and development programs. Doing so, to appropriate degrees, at all levels will increase the pool of potential leaders and staff members who can cope in a wider variety of organizations and operating domains in the future.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter One

    Background and Introduction

  • Chapter Two

    Methodology

  • Chapter Three

    Findings

  • Chapter Four

    Conclusions

  • Chapter Five

    Recommendations

  • Appendix A

    Sampling Design

  • Appendix B

    Interview Protocol

  • Appendix C

    Compensating Competencies Analysis Taxonomy

Research conducted by

The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States Air Force and conducted by RAND Project AIR FORCE.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Documented briefing series. RAND documented briefings are based on research presented to a client, sponsor, or targeted audience in briefing format. Additional information is provided in the documented briefing in the form of the written narration accompanying the briefing charts. All RAND documented briefings undergo rigorous peer review to ensure that they meet high standards for research quality and objectivity. However, they are not expected to be comprehensive and may present preliminary findings. Major research findings are published in the monograph series; supporting or preliminary research is published in the technical report series.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.