Military Innovation Studies: Multidisciplinary or Lacking Discipline?¹

Abstract

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Military organisations and emerging technologies – How do unmanned systems find a role in future navies?

“…Military innovations need to be considered as a multidisciplinary research area related to areas such as management and organisational theory (Griffin 2017). Multidisciplinary perspectives are needed because 'culture sets the context for military innovation, fundamentally shaping organizations' reactions to technological and strategic opportunities' (Grissom 2006, p. 916).…”

Sticking to their Guns: The Missing RMA for Cybersecurity

“…Among the telling cases which military innovation scholars have analyzed are the U.S. Army aviation revival, the Royal Navy failure to protect commercial shipping, and the IDF's initial refusal to adopt nontraditional responses to the rocket threat to Israel. (Griffin, 2017). For the example of civilian-led challenge and then adaptation, I turn to develop an additional recent case study: Israel Defense Forces' doctrine versus short-range rockets and missiles.…”

Through military lenses. Perception of security threats and jointness in the Italian Air Force

“…Grissom's study, focusing on bottom-up innovation, contributed to increase the significance of strategic culture and the peculiarities of institutional learning in military organizations. Griffin (2016) states that since the Grissom article, organizational and strategic culture has dominated the field of military innovation, fostering a sort of "cultural turn" in the field. 3 The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also contributed to a change of focus in the literature, often described exactly as a "shift 1 The concept of 'force transformation' has emerged more recently as an attempt to describe the changes that armed forces should undergo in response to technological change (Farrell et al 2013).…”

“…For a comprehensive review of military innovation studies, which goes beyond the purpose of this article, see Norheim-Martisen (2016),Griffin (2016), andGrissom (2006).3Griffin (2016) criticizes such a cultural turn on the grounds of "theoretical conservatism" because culture has been rarely considered an independent driver of transformation.…”