Early Military Applications of Stratified Systems Theory

by T. Owen Jacobs

U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

This report describes work accomplished during a six years period, much of it by Professor Jaques himself, to investigate the applicability of Stratified Systems Theory (SST) within the U.S. Department of Army. Two broad possible areas of application were apparent at the outset. The first concerned the structure of the very large department and its subordinate elements. (With a uniformed strength of approximately 780,000, and a civilian strength of more than 400,000 the Department of Army matches in scope and scale the largest of private sector multinational corporations.) The second concerned executive leadership, and the process whereby executives (senior generals) are developed within the Department. (The possibility of meaningful sequential development is inherent in the SST formulations of progressive complexity of performance requirements in successively higher strata of large scale organizations.)

 

Major organizations and consulting firms that provide Requisite Organization-based services

A global association of academics, managers, and consultants that focuses on spreading RO implementation practices and encouraging their use
Dr. Gerry Kraines, the firms principal, combines Harry Levinson's leadership frameworks with Elliott Jaques's Requisite Organization. He worked closely with Jaques over many years, has trained more managers in these methods than anyone else in the field, and has developed a comprehensive RO-based software for client firms.
Ron Capelle is unique in his multiple professional certifications, his implementation of RO concepts through well designed organization development methods, and his research documenting the effectiveness of his firm's interventions
Former RO-experienced CEO, Ron Harding, provides coaching to CEOs of start-ups and small and medium-size companies that are exploring their own use of RO concepts.  His role is limited, temporary and coordinated with the RO-based consultant working with the organization
Founded by Gillian Stamp, one of Jaques's colleagues at Brunel, the firm modified Jaques;s work-levels, developed the Career Path Appreciation method, and has grown to several hundred certified assessors in aligned consulting firms world-wide recently expanding to include organization design
Requisite Organization International Institute distributes Elliott Jaques's books, papers, and videos and provides RO-based training to client organizations