(The) assimilation of military GDSS

Abstract

With the development and adoption of ICT in weapon systems, information superiority, prompt troop maneu-vering, fast and accurate decision-making, and secure dissemination of battlefield information have emerged as essential factors for a successful military campaign. The command, control, communication, computer, and intelligence (C4I) system is an integrated weapons system that adopts ICT in its functions and helps in quick decision-making. One of the key functions of the C4I system is a group-decision support function. Through this support function of the C4I system, people engaging in military operations can view common operating pictures, share information, and support higher-level decisions made during the course of the operations. Military Group Decision Support System (MGDSS) is a specific term for the group-decision support system in the C4I system. Although the Korean military aggressively exploits these technologies to achieve information superiority and to make better and more rapid decisions, the Army Tactical Command Information System (ATCIS), in its physical implementation of MGDSS, has been challenged by a vicious cycle of technical barriers since its de-ployment. This research focuses on two aspects of MGDSS Assimilation: the mediation effect of consensus on appropriation and the role of Top Management Support in terms of belief in its efficacy and participation in adopting it. The first study empirically examined factors affecting MGDSS assimilation and the mediating effect of structural appropriation in the Korean Army using a technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework. A survey was conducted on 248 participants who were users or former users of the ATCIS. The data were analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) method. The results revealed that institutional pressure (IP) has the strongest effect on structural appropriation, followed by IT infrastructure (ITI) and Top Management Support (TMS). Structural appropriation plays a significant mediating role between TOE factors and MGDSS assimilation. The second study investigated the role of TMS in the MGDSS assimilation process. It empirically examined how TMS affected top management belief (TMB) and their participation and COA in the Korean Army. With the same survey data of the first study, the PLS method was used to analyze the data. The results showed that TMB has a strong mediation effect on structural appropriation, while top management participation (TMP) has no effect on structural appropriation but a direct effect on assimilation. TMS has a different effect on structural appropriation and on MGDSS assimilation. This study has a number of implications and provides practical insights into the consensus on appropriation and TMS for successful assimilation of MGDSS in military organizations.