Capability management is a high-level

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

function, with particular application in the context of

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. Capability management aims to balance economy in meeting current operational

requirements In engineering, a requirement is a condition that must be satisfied for the output of a work effort to be acceptable. It is an explicit, objective, clear and often quantitative description of a condition to be satisfied by a material, design, pro ...

, with the sustainable use of current capabilities, and the development of future capabilities, to meet the sometimes competing strategic and current operational objectives of an

enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

. Accordingly, effective capability management: * Assists organizations to better understand, and effectively integrate the total enterprise ability or capacity to achieve strategic and current operational objectives; and * Develops and provides solutions that focus on the management of the interlinking functions and activities in the enterprise's strategic and current operational contexts. In military contexts, capabilities may also be analysed in terms of Force Structure and the Preparedness of elements or groupings within that Force Structure.

Preparedness Preparedness is a set of actions that are taken as precautionary measures in the face of potential disasters. Being prepared helps in achieving goals and in avoiding and mitigating negative outcomes. There are different types of preparedness, su ...

in turn may be analysed in terms of Readiness and Sustainability. In both the military and commercial contexts, net-centric operations and related concepts are playing an increasingly important role in leading and driving

business transformation In management it has been said that business transformation involves making fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to help cope with shifts in market environment. However this is a relatively narrow definition that overlooks o ...

, and contemporary capability management needs to have close regard of those factors. The level of

interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader de ...

, both technical and organisational/social, is a critical determinant of the net-centric capability that is able to be realised and employed.

Capability management topics

Capability

Enterprises consist of a portfolio of capabilities that are used in various combinations to achieve outcomes. Within that portfolio, a capability will be transient unless managed and maintained over time. Therefore, a typical capability lifecycle spans needs, requirements, acquisition, in-service and obsolescence/disposal phases. While a highly developed management discipline within several national military organisations, the concepts, principles and practices of capability management are readily adaptable and effective for application in the strategy and operations of many other enterprises.

Defining capabilities in the US military

The

Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System The Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) is the formal United States Department of Defense (DoD) process which defines acquisition requirements and evaluation criteria for future defense programs. JCIDS was created to repla ...

Manual, CJCSM 3170.01, states that definitions of identified capabilities must satisfy two rules:Department of Defense (2003)
DoDAF 1.0 Deskbook
15 Aug 2003. * Capability definitions must contain the required attributes with appropriate measures of effectiveness (e.g.: time, distance, effect ncluding scaleand obstacles to overcome). * Capability definitions should be general and not influence a decision in favor of a particular means of implementation. The definition should be specific enough to evaluate alternative approaches to implement the capability. Capabilities are organized around concepts of operations (CONOPS), which describe how a specified course of action is to be executed. The ability to execute the specified course of action depends on many factors and the relationship between those factors. Capabilities can be described as one or more sequences of activities, referred to as operational threads. The threads are composed of a set of activities that can be grouped to form the basis for a mission area architecture. The architecture then provides the structure for defining and understanding the many factors that impact the capability. The figure illustrates this sequence of relationships. The

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

has also endorsed using architectures to understand and analyze capabilities and their associated requirements. The Navy performs this architecture analysis based on the concept of Mission Capability Package (MCP). The intent is to consider all of the factors that contribute to the desired mission capability as an integrated system. An MCP is defined as "a task-oriented bundle of CONOPS, processes, and organization structures supported by networks, sensors, weapons, and systems, as well as personnel training and support services to sustain a core naval capability." The MCP and associated analysis then provide the basis for acquisition decisions.

Capability management considerations

Due to the complexities of system-of-systems integration, interoperability, and the dynamic nature of operations, capability management is greatly assisted by modelling and simulating realistic strategic scenarios and contexts, in order to inform business cases and decision-making. Through those considerations and practices, the enterprise and its performance can be continuously assessed and projected into the future. Well executed capability management therefore clearly informs strategic and operational decisions, and aids in the development of diverse but well-considered strategic and operational options, so they are readily available off-the-shelf. This should also endow significant agility to an enterprise, providing enhanced "contingency capital" and risk mitigation. Capability management therefore centers on: * Strategic and operational appreciations and analyses * Capability conceptualization, definition and development *

Operations research Operations research () (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a branch of applied mathematics that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve management and ...

and analysis * Context or scenario-based capability modelling and simulation * Capability costing * Capital project business cases and management * Decision making and decision support * Capability assurance and performance management

Capability management frameworks

The interlinking functions and activities of the enterprise may be defined under several best-practice paradigms or frameworks, such as the

Balanced Scorecard A balanced scorecard is a strategy performance management tool – a well-structured report used to keep track of the execution of activities by staff and to monitor the consequences arising from these actions. The term 'balanced scorecard' prim ...

, or the US

Department of Defense Architecture Framework The Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) is an architecture framework for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) that provides visualization infrastructure for specific stakeholders concerns through viewpoints organized b ...

, The Ministry of Defence Architecture Framework, The Open Group Architecture Framework and Zachman's Framework for Enterprise Architecture. In other words, capability is typically managed and assessed with regard to several dimensions or integrative elements.

DOTMLPF

The US military analyses its capabilities in the dimensions of "DOTMLPF", being: *

Doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...

* Organizations * Training *

Materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

* Leader development *

Personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

* Facilities Interoperability concerns all capability dimensions, therefore

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

has extended the seven capability dimensions by the cross-cutting aspect of

Interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader de ...

and uses the acronym "DOTMLPF-I".

Defence Lines of Development

The UK Ministry of Defence uses a similar breakdown of Defence Lines of Development as follows: * Training * Equipment * Personnel * Information * Concepts and Doctrine * Organisation * Infrastructure * Logistics The

mnemonic A mnemonic device ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember. It makes use of e ...

"Tepid oil" is used to remember these. Though not a Defence Line of Development in itself, the unifying theme of 'interoperability' is considered to ensure a holistic approach to capability integration. The UK Ministry of Defence cites Interoperability as an overarching theme that must be considered when any Defence Line of Development is being addressed.

Fundamental Inputs to Capability

The

Australian Defence Organisation The Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) is an Australian Government organisation that consists of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), the Department of Defence (Australia), Department of Defence (DoD, also branded as Defence Australia), and o ...

also analyses its capabilities in similar dimensions - the so-called Fundamental Inputs to Capability. These are: * Command and Management * Organisation * Major Systems * Personnel * Supplies * Support * Facilities * Collective Training * Industry These Fundamental Inputs to Capability must be integrated and managed within a defined or constraining financial envelope in order to realise and sustain a capability: a deficiency in any one adversely impacts the whole.

References

External links

Through Life Capability Management (TLCM)
UK Ministry of Defence Acquisition
Defence Capability Development Manual 2021
Australian Defence Organisation {{Management Management by type