Organizational/Systems Opportunities in the Operational Use of a Personnel Planning Model

Abstract

A gaming analogue is used to characterize the operational use of a large-scale personnel planning model. Organizational players of diverse functional and hierarchical interests convene at different points in time and space to play the game. The model establishes a three-dimensional structure (paygrade, time in service, and occupation) to represent the enlisted personnel system of the U. S. Navy. Flows through the structure are the mechanism players use to express their organizational interests. A particular game—that of recruitment planning—is used to illustrate the variety of players and the way in which they interact to produce a viable recruitment schedule. The role of the model is to facilitate the game by providing a “playing field.” Some organizational by-products of this approach to modelling are cited.