Feedback Control Systems
Touro University International
Gregory D. Rodgers Sr.
MBA Integrative Project
BUS 599
Module 5
CASE
Professor
Dr. Bruce Gillies
The majority of feedback control systems employed in Army’ systems are classified as closed-loop control systems. A closed-loop system is one in which the control action is dependent on the output of the system.
The one balancing loop and reinforcing loop that I will concentrate on is the Army’s successful counterinsurgency strategy. This is done by applying a technique known as systems thinking. The fundamentals of good strategic thought lay both in recognizing the most significant interactions between different players, how they influence each other in unexpected ways, and how to measure progress in achieving the ends of the strategy. Systems’ thinking has proven successful in other contexts at explaining human behavior, policy choices, unintended consequences, and the resistance of systems to change. It also offers insight into how to assess one of the most difficult questions related to strategy in complex environments—how to know when the strategy has been successful.
There are many difficulties in developing and implementing a counterinsurgency strategy. One major impediment is the lack of a clear and simple way to describe the strategy—US military forces and senior policymakers have traditionally shown a need to learn and re-learn the basic tenets of counterinsurgency strategies. Another difficulty is determining appropriate measures of success, as the twists and turns of a counterinsurgent campaign often lead to considerable ambiguity regarding progress in relationship to the ultimate goal. Issues like these are not unique to counterinsurgencies. Systems’ thinking has proven useful in understanding public management and policy, energy and the environment, and theory development in the natural and social sciences....
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