Aptitude for Destruction, Vol 1 Organizational Learning in Terrorist Groups and its Implications for combating Terrorism

by Jackson, Brian A.

• ISBN13: 9780833037640
• ISBN10: 0833037641
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-15
• Publisher: RAND Corporation

Summary

Understanding how terroirst groups learn may aid in developing strategies to combat terrorist activites.

Table of Contents

Preface	iii
Figures	vii
Summary	ix
Acknowledgments	xvii
Abbreviations and Acronyms	xix
Introduction	1	(8)
About This Study	4	(3)
About This Report	7	(2)
What Is Organizational Learning?	9	(8)
Organizational Learning as a Four-Part Process	10	(4)
The Need to Combine Explicit and Tacit Knowledge	14	(1)
Different Forms of Organizational Learning	15	(2)
The Need to Learn in Order to Change Effectively	17	(10)
Development, Improvement, and Employment of New Weapons or Tactics	18	(2)
Improving Skills with Current Weapons or Tactics	20	(1)
Collecting and Utilizing Intelligence Information	21	(2)
Thwarting Efforts to Combat Terrorist Activities	23	(1)
Preserving Organizational Capabilities Despite the Loss of Group Members	24	(3)
How Understanding Terrorist Group Learning Can Aid in Combating Terrorism	27	(34)
Detecting Terrorist Groups' Efforts to Change	28	(6)
Anticipating the Outcome of Terrorist Groups' Efforts to Change	34	(14)
Acting More Effectively to Thwart Terrorist Efforts	48	(13)
Limitations of an Organizational-Learning-Based Approach for Analysis and Operational Planning in Combating Terrorism	61	(8)
The Need to Understand Terrorist Group Structure and Membership	61	(1)
Lack of Data on Terrorist Group Learning Processes	62	(1)
The Nature of Learning Models	63	(1)
Difficulties in Measuring the Results of Learning	63	(3)
Understanding the Contribution of Learning Ability to Specific Terrorist Operations	66	(3)
Conclusions	69	(4)
Assessing the Threat Posed by Individual Terrorist Groups and Understanding Their Behavior	69	(1)
Developing and Implementing Effective Counterstrategies	70	(1)
Allocating Resources and Developing Metrics to Assess the Effectiveness of Efforts to Combat Terrorism	70	(2)
Concluding Remarks	72	(1)
Appendix Overview of the Case Study Groups	73	(4)
References	77