From Eye to Electron---Management Problems of the Combat Surveillance Research and Development Field

Following an introduction which establishes the fact that increased fire power of modem armies has increased the requirement of those armies for long range combat surveillance and target acquisition capabilities, this article highlights the four basic management problems involved in the combat surveillance R&D field: 1) The initial establishment of relationships with industry, other Signal Corps establishments, other branches of the Army, other Services, and with U. S. CONARC, principal user of the equipment. 2) The development of a logical program. 3) The development of the Combat Surveillance Agency itself as an organization. 4) The development of a technique for monitoring each program and for supervising the agencies, corporations, etc., involved in the various steps of the program. The solutions that management has applied in order to resolve these problems are discussed in sequence. These solutions include the liaison and information exchange function, a three-pronged program objective, the "systems manager" type of organization and its merits, and a discussion of the "line of balance" chart monitoring system.