CDLE-
Centre for Defence Leadership and Ethics

CURRENT RESEARCH
As of June 2009

WHAT ARE THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE REQUIREMENTS FOR MILITARY ETHICS EDUCATION IN ORDER TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARY OPERATIONS AND FUTURE CONFLICT?

This research was undertaken by Mr Jamie Cullens as recipient of the Australian Secretary of Defence Scholarship 2008.
                            
Ethical failures have occurred in Western militaries over the past few decades and in the 21st Century they continue. The failures ‘have involved military and public service personnel of all age groups, all elements and without regard to religion, ethnicity, gender or any other criteria’ (Neill, 2000).

In recent times in Australia there are suggestions that some serious operational incidents have highlighted ethical problems (Alan Tidwell in 1999, discussing the Australian Army’s 1996 Black Hawk disaster) and that the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) operational tempo will continue to see it involved in operations across the globe and either operating independently or as part of a coalition where Australians are often in command. The fact that the ADF has performed to a high ethical standard in the past can be attributed to the quality of culture, selection, leadership, training and a degree of luck. However the 2005 Senate report on the effectiveness of Australia’s military justice system highlighted areas of concern which need to be addressed in the professional joint military educational environment. In addition, the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the contemporary operating environment suggests the ADF needs to prepare its leaders for the challenges of the future by educating them in the ethical issues that have emerged in recent conflicts, deployments and barracks incidents. This education needs to be supplemented by opportunities for debate and reflection. The ADF recognises that it can no longer afford to be reactive in this regard.

During the course of 2008 the Scholarship research project examined the ADF need for education in professional ethics from recruit to the two star level. A major outcome is the development of an ADF military ethics educational framework that can be applied to the joint professional military education continuum.

THE LEADER AS A CONFLICT MANAGER

This research is being undertaken by LEUT Linley Cornish, RANR working on a part time basis as a Visiting Fellow for the CDLS.  The broad aim of this project is to identify the specific training leaders in Defence require in order to be effective conflict managers and meet their ‘people responsibilities’.  The specific aims are to:

1.       Provide a conceptual analysis of the qualities of a leader as a conflict manager.  This will include clarifying what is entailed in the duties of a conflict manager, how this fits within a leader’s role and what are the skills or qualities that the leader must achieve competence in to be considered an effective conflict manager.

2.       Research organisational conflict management practises.  This will include the processes within similar organisations and the role that a leader plays in these processes.

3.       Assess if conflict management practises are consistent with Defence, specifically ADF, needs of a leader.

4.       Provide a detailed analysis of the leadership training currently provided within Defence and the ADF which may be considered consistent with conflict management skills.

5.       Determine the leadership training required to provide a leader within the Defence/ADF environment with conflict management skills.

6.       Determine if a training ‘gap’ exists between current Defence/ADF training and what is required to be an effective conflict manager.

7.       Develop a training continuum to support the development of the Defence/ADF leader as a conflict manager.

VALUES AND VALUES BASED LEADERSHIP IN THE ADF

This research is being undertaken by CMDR Tony Mullan, DD-CDLS.  The broad aim of the research is to determine how successfully organisational values are being integrated into the ADF, and how they are being used by leaders.  The specific aims are to:

1.       Provide a practical ‘best practice’ framework for introducing, integrating and managing values in an organisation.

2.       Assess the values programs used by various areas within the ADF against the framework, to determine if a gap exists between current programs and ‘best practice’.

3.       Assess if the introduction of organisational values within various areas of the ADF has occurred successfully, especially with respect to the development of values based leadership, and whether existing values programs are achieving the aims stated by senior Defence leaders.

LEADERSHIP AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS IN THE SPECIAL FORCES
  
This research is being undertaken by BRIG Nick Jans, PhD a Visiting Fellow at CDLS and Jamie Cullens.  The project will also engage with the Centre for Army Lessons which is also researching Special Forces operational lessons.  The broad aim of the research is to investigate the distinctive characteristics of effective leadership and effective teamwork in the Special Forces.

In terms of identifying factors associated with effective teamwork, Special Forces teams are arguably a model for the kind of team behaviour that will be required in the new era of Network Centric Warfare (‘the strategic private’).

The research method will be based on a social science interview technique known as the Repertory Grid.  Under RG, experienced observers/practitioners are guided to reflect on behavioural phenomena (in this case, teamwork and leadership) in such a way that the behavioural features of such phenomena are revealed.  Comparison samples will be included to confirm that the ‘SF factors’ are distinct from more general factors that are likely to be characteristic of ADF junior leaders across the board.

The study will make a major contribution to ADF leadership doctrine, in terms of identifying behaviours that could be applied within the SF and generally throughout the Army and into other small teams in the ADF.  It will also help in refining selection criteria for SF applicants.

THE CHIEFS

This research is being undertaken by Dr Nick Jans and Jamie Cullens (D-CDLS).  The objectives of the project are to:

1.       Analyse the process of top-level strategic leadership, and

2.       Provide material for ADF leadership doctrine and for mid- and senior-level leadership development.

The rationale for the project is:

1.       Leadership at the three-star/Chief of Service level is considerably more challenging than leadership even one level below; and

2.       In the Australian context, such leadership principally involves strategic leadership and management in the defence bureaucracy, rather than senior operational command; but

3.       We know very little about Chief-level leadership, beyond the reflections of Chiefs of Service at ADC presentations.  While the shelves of Defence libraries groan with books on senior operational high/command, there have been no scholarly studies of leadership at the senior levels of military bureaucracies apart from the recently published CDLS research paper, ‘Once Were Warriors?’.

The reseach will be based on interviews with present and past Chiefs of Service, present and past senior public servants, present and past politicians, and academics

CAREERS IN CONFLICT

This research is being undertaken by Dr Nick Jans and builds on the first Careers in Conflict study conducted nearly a quarter of a century ago.  The modern ADF faces a significantly different strategic and operational context, operational tempo and deployment levels are high, Australian society has changed, and a new generation of officers is bringing a subtly different approach to the military career. 

The aim of the Careers in Conflict 2007 reprise is much the same as it was in 1984: to understand what is happening to members and why this is happening, and thereby to enhance understanding of the institution and its collective psyche.