MEMO FOR EXECUTIVE COMMMITTEE FROM DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01554R003300190050-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 6, 2004
• Sequence Number: 50
• Publication Date: December 1, 1979
• Content Type: MF

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1 December 1979
MEMORANDUM FOR: Executive Committee
FROM: Director of Central Intelligence
Attached is an article on the advantages of the rotation of
executives within their organizations. I request you read it before
we reach this item in our scheduled Executive Committee discussions
on the NAPA report.
Attachment a/s
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The peripatetic ma.nago
executive rotation
at Dahigren LaboratorN
By Philip L. Martin
Flexibility, harmony, expertise. Sound
good? Executive rotation may help you
achieve them.
A managerial merry-go-round. That may be the
connotation of the term "executive rotation" to
many managers. Some of them may associate the
practice with an informal mobility system that
benefits "front-enders," persons. who like to spend
a short time in highly visible projects and then move
on to a new area, sometimes to the detriment of ex-
tended productivity and leadership continuity.
But executive rotation has a wider meaning for
some managers who have participated in it as a
long-term, across-the-board method .,of executive`
development. Job rotation as discussed in th
broader sense refers to a somewhat subjective pro-
cess whereby management steers middle-level manY``r
agers from.branch to branch or program to program
within the same department; the process also calls II
for wider, interdepartmental rotation ' of promising`'
middle managers, especially division chiefs, who
Note: Research for this article was supported by the Office of
Naval Research under Contract N00014-75-C-0550.
6 September-October. 1979
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can benefit from flexible but systematic rotation in
which.the length of assignments is not prescribed.' 0
Recent research on job rotation verifies that a
judicious pattern. of reassignment and rotation can
broaden a manager's perspective and add to his
qualifications. For the organization employing him,
the manager's improved skills and broader knowl-
edge will reduce administrative stagnation and con-
tribute to the development of an experienced staff
ready to fill a variety of vacancies.',
Executive rotation has proved successful in pri-
vate enterprise, typically engendering a company-
wide point of view that aids decision making. In the
federal government, the advantages of executive
rotation have received increased attention since the
passage of the Civil Service Reform Act, which
'See Yoram Zeira, "'Job Rotation for Management Develop-
ment," Personnel, July-August 1974, p. 28.
=Gary G. Kaufman, "Managerial Mobility: A Cost-Benefit
Analysis of Job Rotation," The Bureaucrat, Jan. 1975, pp.
462-485.
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66 and middle managers. Thus. the advantages reported
Job rota-Hon as dis-
cussed in this broader
sense refers to .a some-
what subjective process
whereby management
steers middle-level man-
agers from branch to
branch or program to
program within the same
department.9~
reorganized the upper managerial ranks into the
Senior Executive Service.
Dahlgren introduces rotation
One outstanding application of executive rotation
in the federal sector is found at the Dahlgren Lab-
oratory of the Naval Surface Weapons Center in
Dahlgren, Virginia, which has a long history of
using executive rotation to develop personnel at all
levels. The Dahlgren facility opened in 1918 as a
testing and proving ground. In 1958 it became a
comprehensive research and development laboratory
oriented toward support.
For the next decade, Dahlgren used the director-
ate form of organization in which the heads of tech-
nical departments and the technical director met as a
board. at least once a week under the chairmanship
of the commanding officer. Although this group was
responsible for setting policy and making decisions
on matters affecting the entire organization, it was
hampered by frequent jurisdictional conflicts as each
department head protected his interests, sometimes
to the detriment of the entire laboratory. As a result,
a plan was devised to integrate what were then three
semi-autonomous technical departments into a cohe-
sive decisional body.
In '1968, the idea'of rotation was introduced into,
the executive ranks, but primarily in the technical
departments because other departments were re-
stricted by' assignment and classification require-
ments. Results from studies made a number of years
after the start of the program portray the policy as
successful in a number of ways. The studies rely on
are not derived from hard data. nevertheless, the re-
sponses do point up the benefits of managerial
mobility.
A study of Dahlgren in 1972 by James Colvard
reported, for instance, that rotation "gives the man-
ager an element of flexibility in the disposition and
utilization of human resources (which are the key to
R&D) that he does not normally have in a more
rigid organization. This flexibility is possible be-
cause the personal emotional trauma of movement in'
the ranks is removed when rotation is demonstrated
by top management to be a positive thing. "3
Organizational memory
Similarly, in interviews at Dahlgren in 1978,4
which yielded data for the present article, partici-
pants indicated that executive rotation enhanced or-
ganizational efficiency in quite a few ways. One
major advantage of the rotation policy at Dahlgren is
the' department heads' exposure to more than just the
laboratory's ongoing operations. Moving from area
to area, the executive gathers a variety of knowl-
edge, such as an awareness of individual perform-
ance and information about past research. A rich,
combination of experiences constitutes an execu-
tive's administrative memory, which aids him in
making decisions on the feasibility of new projects.
The wider the variety of contributing sources, the
more administrative memory serves as a data
base-one composed of a person's interpretations,
perceptions, and reactions, all of which are qualified
by the range of his analytical abilities.
Administrative memory is thus a_ very useful
decision-making tool, because the more an execu-
tive learns about the limitations of various R&,D
situations, the better equipped he is to avoid pitfalls:
In this way, rotation fosters consideration of various
alternatives, a practice essential to the success of
Navy research and development. For example, pro-
fessional employees must be free to explore ideas,
3James E. Colvard, Executive Rotation as a Means of Mana-
gericl Development (Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of
Oklahoma, 1972), p. 10.
'See also Philip L. Martin, An Evaluation of Management
Training at the Naval Weapons Laboratory (Dahlgren, VA,
1974).
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 and in this re r R r Y ~ 4 , F , q r R e t Q r Wlit If C t ~~ i1``4RQQ MLRQQ 9r?ativity and in-
to e,tablhsh Ow parameters within which subordi- novation. it can o foster deviation from estab-
Mates ntav' work.
To maximize the benefits of allowing executives
to serve in a series of different assignments, the
Dahlgren' Laboratory encourages collegial interac-
tion by holding weekly meetings of its department
heads, who act as the agency's board of directors.
They are treated as equals in the collective process
of making top-level decisions, permitting a higher
level of organizational consciousness than would
arise under the standard pyramidal model of admin-
istrative hierarchy.
This attainment, unusual for most public agen-
cies, has come about because Dahigren's philosophy
on top management promotes the assimilation of in-
dividual administrative memories into the process of
participative management. At some time, every
executive contributes to the organizational memory,.
which is continuously refined, both collectively and
individually. Since its rotation system began, the
Dahlgren Laboratory has employed a series of ad-
ministrators, whose experience continues to contrib-
ute to the total awareness of the current leaders,
even though the association between a specific con-
tribution and a single contributor gradually fades.
Dahigren's long record of impressive achieve-
ments has a positive psychological impact. For
example, the first successful testing of a radio-
controlled airplane took place at Dahlgren, as did
the pioneer testing of the important Norden
bombsight." Even though none of the persons in-
volved in these projects is still employed at
Dahlgren, the fame of the projects continues to con-
tribute to morale. Later generations, remembering
former triumphs, are not afraid to perform the in-
novative experimentation vital to research and de-
velopment.
lished objectives. For instance, a project may drift
off course, or scientists may become isolated while
testing new hypotheses. Research and development
laboratories are particularly susceptible to the dis-
tractions of theory; as an academic pursuit, science
can become a preoccupation leading to a loss of in-
tellectual contact with the original objective. Preoc-
cupation may even degenerate into stagnation, with
no real progress being made.
How do managers in charge of an experiment
keep everyone's attention concentrated on the goal?
In public administration, the two most widely ac-
cepted methods are identified by the terms organi-
zation and dominance of idea.
The term organization means "interrelating the
subdivisions of work by allotting them to men who
are placed in a structure of authority, so that the
work may be co-ordinated by orders of superiors to
subordinates, reaching from the top to the bottom of
the entire enterprise." The term dominance of idea
means "the development of intelligent singleness` of
purpose in the minds and wills of those who are
working together as a group, so that each worker
with skill and enthusiasm."6 These two primary 1
ways of maintaining control and coordination usu-
?ally function concurrently. At Dahlgren, however,
the idea of executive rotation engenders its own
system of direction and dominates organizational
structure; the latter exists largely because the civil
service regulations require formal designation of
managers at the various levels of responsibility
within a government agency.
Executive rotation at Dahlgren has curtailed de
viations from an established course of action - and .
among department heads checks the tendency to
Organizational direction
Top management mobility provides a second ad-
vantage interrelated with organizational memory.
After serving as the head of several departments, a
Dahlgren executive gains an invaluable insight into
how each component of the laboratory contributes to
the laboratory's mission. ,;Such understanding, ob-
viously important to the functioning of any organi-
zation, is,prucial in the often unstructured environ-
ment of military research. While a free-floating
Defense Management Journal
stray afield. One department may begin to lose sight
of the objectives, but executives who formerly
worked in the deviating department still act unoffi-
cially as monitors for the ongoing projects which
5Kenneth G. McCollum, ed., Dahlgren (Dahlgren, YA,
1977), p. 19.
'Luther Gulick, "Notes on the Theory of Organization," Pa-
pers on the Science of Administration, eds. Luther Gulick and
L. Urwick (New York: Columbia University Press, 1937), p.
23.
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In public administra-
tion, crossing depart-
mental boundaries in
order to coordinate work
is prohibited by a sacred
separation of jurisdic-
tions.""
were once under their command.
In addition, lower-level managers become more
impartial toward the entire organization as a result
of exposure to rotating department heads. Project
leaders and division and branch chiefs learn to keep
their work in step with the direction of the labora-
tory and gain a good perspective on the need to
coordinate efforts. If a second-rank supervisor in
one department discovers a digression elsewhere, he
usually sends an informal report up the chain of
command to the appropriate superior, who then calls
the matter to the attention of his wayward colleague.
Exceptions to the above processes occur in some
divisions at Dahlgren that have little contact with the
rest of the laboratory because their jobs are highl'
specialized or restricted for security purposes. Yet
an overall sense of organizational direction does
exist even in these segregated areas, and it has both
horizontal and vertical impacts in the Dahlgren Lab-
oratory. Its force is unquestionably stronger at the
top where policy decisions are made, but as a result
of executive rotation there is a pervasive effect
which makes the sense of organizational direction an
efficacious control mechanism that replaces the need
for many directives and manuals codifying the
agency's structure and system of operation.
organizational interfaces
As a consequence of their diverse experience;
Dahlgren's executives often achieve productive in-
terfaces among different projects. Too often in pub
lic administration, crossing departmental boundaries
in order to coordinate work is prohibited by a sacred
separation of juriisdictions..Many federal, state, and
local agencies suffer 'a loss of morale and productiv-
ity wheiiprotective.managers squabble to assert in
September-October 1979
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9 (09tiq(}? Aturns, distribution
66 At the same time that it
strengthens organiza-
tional cohesion, rotation
revitalizes the executive,
enhances his decision-
making abilities, and
adds to his capacity to
deal with new situations,
different people, and di-
verse sponsors.55
need expertise in minicomputers. He and the train-
ing officer made plans for special classes almost one
year before they were to begin, scheduling the
training sessions to coincide with expected demands
on the project groups. In neither of the preceding
cases would the need for specialized training have
been so quickly pinpointed without the benefit of
rotation.
Executive mobility aids many personnel decisions
in areas such as career development, promotions,
salary increases, and training, because the adminis-
trator learns about individual employees and their
performance under the demands of different wort
situations. After heading several departments, the
executive amasses the background for balanced,
objective personnel decisions. In the same manner,
the department head can check an overzealous divi-
sion chief or encourage a hesitant manager.
Organizational technology transfer
Technology transfer, one of the major concerns of
the scientific community, involves more than inter-
national schemes of great magnitude. It is of interest
at various organizational levels ranging from
worldwide forums on modernization to individual
research and development laboratories like Dahlgren
that thrive on internal dissemination of the latest sci-
entific advances. Executive rotation aids this inter-
nal mechanism..;
Exchange of technical information can be attained
through many, methods besides training sessions:
Other methods include in-house presentations on
scientific advancements, consultations among lab-
of technical publications, and contact with other
R&D organizations, including universities. In ac-
complishing a transfer of technology, the role of
executive rotation is to emphasize the need to rectify
technical deficiencies. There may also be an addi-
tional payoff, inasmuch as rotations may expose an
executive to other professionals who can profit from
planned exchange sessions.
Organizational change
Rotation of department heads injects an element
of change into a management system without the
adverse side effects that result from other methods.
Organizations often assimilate technical changes in
the spirit of progress, but resist management altera-
tions because employees may be emotionally at-
tached to the old way of doing business. An organi-
zation that consistently rejects changes in manage-
ment procedures, however, will gradually reduce the
quality of its output; its employees will suffer from
mental stagnation and a decline in innovation.
These shortcomings occur too frequently in public'
administration, where there is no unifying profit
motive to stimulate change, in contrast to private
enterprise, whose survival depends upon keeping on
its monetary toes. Even though the Dahlgren Lab-
oratory is funded under a budget that does make it
responsible for a monetary allocation, this system
does not dispel reluctance to rearrange the hierarchi-
cal patterns and to alter the established ways of run-
ning them. Flexibility is also hampered by the impo-
sition of personnel ceilings and career management
stipulations and by the civil service requirement that
managers must be permanently designated on an of-
ficial position classification chart.
How can agencies overcome the natural tendeney
to stroll down the same administrative path? Over"
the years a number of techniques have been used to
provide incentives for change, including private
consultants, reorganization, sensitivity training
groups, ad hoc study committees, advanced plan-
ning groups, and the shifting of employees at all
levels of the personnel ladder. These alternatives
have met with varying degrees of success, but not
without causing unnecessary expense,! conflict,`, and
disruption in normal routines.:
Executive rotation, in contrast, lacks these disad-
vantages. In addition, the interview respondents felt
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i.it rotation ha n tmpo a t a ~fr>Za
1i~ion chiefs. and in turn their branch heads, tend to cal duties. The comptroller's experience, however.
reexamine their way of managing in response to turned out to be a tremendous windfall when the
each new departmental executive's philosophy of reorganization occurred. As a result of his contact
budgetirrg, manner of delegating authority, and so with the monetary aspects of scientific problems at a
forth. Some interviewed personnel believed that the high level, the comptroller was better able to handle
most important products of executive mobility were the challenges presented when two financial depart-
insights regarding how a goal might be reached or ments merged under the newly established Naval
how a different managerial approach could be used.: Surface Weapons Center.
Furthermore, the impact of mobility at the top It would be impressive but presumptuous to claim
filters down to the division and branch echelons, that the preceding cases were successful because of
helping to maintain a high level of expertise close to deliberately planned rotations, since the rotational
the work groups where it is most needed. This assignments were not made in anticipation of crises.
means that technical advice is readily available to Nevertheless, executive mobility did help to
assist projects, notwithstanding a lack of continuous ameliorate the difficulties.
leadership by one specialist. Dahlgren does rotate its
lower line managers, but executive mobility makes proper approach crucial
it unnecessary to rely on them to promote change.
Executive rotation offers a degree of protection Reassignment contributes to the executive's per-
against unexpected organizational crises. For exam- sonal development while satisfying organizational
pie, an agency could not predict that a young demands. At the same time that it strengthens or-i
executive would die prematurely. Or an organization ganizational cohesion, rotation revitalizes the
seldom prepares fully to consolidate with another executive, enhances his decision-making abilities,
bureau, for history shows that most decisions to and adds to his capacity to deal with new situations,
reorganize are made with little warning. Executive different people, and diverse sponsors.
rotation, although not designed to deal with these But these advantages do not simply happen.
kinds of crises, contributed to satisfactory solutions Periodic rotation must be planned, not by personnel
when such problems did occur. u specialists, but by the chief administrator in re-
In the first case mentioned, a bright young execu- sponse to organizational needs. Rotation should not
tive was killed in a hunting accident. He led a de- take place merely for the purpose of shifting person-,
partment engaged in crucial programs which could nel now and then; it should always be done for a
be harmed by a leadership transition, but nothing justifiable, underlying reason. It cannot serve as a
a andolit
deleterious happened because his replacement, who panacea nOo be oey organizational pailment,
at the time was the assistant department head, had should
been prepared for greater responsibility, having lowed, then executive rotation can be as fruitful as it
served elsewhere in the laboratory as an acting head has been at the Dahlgren Laboratory, where intelli-
of several technical departments and for one year as gent planning minimized the disadvantages of rota;
the executive in charge of the personnel department. tion. Virtually any governmental agency, regardless
Upheaval was averted again when the chief of a of its structure, can implement executive rotation
newly created department had to be reassigned to a and reap the same advantages that have contributed
more urgent project. His successor was able to pick to Dahlgren's efficiency. 2JVLJ
up the operation, without any loss of momentum on
the basis of having headed several related depart- PHILIP L. MARTIN, professor of political sci-
ments. ence at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
Rotation also offset the potential adverse impact University, teaches management courses at the
of Dahlgren's consolidation in 1974 with the Naval Dahlgren Laboratory. Professor Martin has a
Ordnance Laboratory. Dahlgren's comptroller had Ph.D. in political science from the University of
served a rotational term as the associate technical North Carolina.
director, gain unusual switch, since it involved the
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