Managerial capacity in conflict environments: Management effects of private military and security companies in Iraq
| Published date | 01 September 2020 |
| Author | Benjamin Tkach |
| Date | 01 September 2020 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12650 |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Managerial capacity in conflict environments:
Management effects of private military
and security companies in Iraq
Benjamin Tkach
Department of Political Science and Public
Administration, Mississippi State
University, USA
Correspondence
Benjamin Tkach, Department of Political
Science and Public Administration, P.O. Box
PC, Mississippi State University, MS 39762,
USA.
Email: b.tkach@msstate.edu
Abstract
An enduring challenge of public administration research is
examining whether public management affects the delivery
of public policy results. This study extends managerial influ-
ence to include public policy delivery in an active conflict
environment. Individual manager training is critical in con-
flict environments because limited bureaucratic capacity
and general environmental confusion are common. Organi-
zations under stress use substitute managers. We argue
that substitute managers' effectiveness is conditioned by
two factors: managerial capability and networking capabil-
ity. We examine substitute managers in a unique context,
the US–Iraq War. Managers coordinated private military
and security companies (PMSCs) to provide coalition forces
and the civilian population with multiple services. We argue
that managers with prior management experience and net-
work capability are more effective substitute managers.The
results suggest that managers with priorexperience and net-
working capability are associated with decreases in civilian
casualties. The results provide important policy insights into
public managementand defence policy.
1|INTRODUCTION: PUBLIC POLICY DELIVERY IN CONFLICT
ENVIRONMENTS
One of the enduringchallenges of public administrationresearch is whether public managementinfluences the delivery
of public policy results (Boyne et al. 2006; O'Toole and Meier 2011). The challenge lies in empirically demonstrating
managerial effects, as context, innovation, leadership anddecision-making processes are individual traits that
Received: 2 November 2018Revised: 1 November 2019Accepted: 6 December 2019
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12650
Public Admin. 2020;98:785–800.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd785
disproportionately affect a manager'simpact on an organization (Brewer and Seldon 2000; O'Toole and Meier 2014).
Moreover, managers indirectly guide policy because programme performance and policy outputs are not necessarily
linear activities(Lynn et al. 2000). In this context,the importance of individual managers is elevated sinceorganizations
under stress are forced to respond to external shocks andfrequently turn to substitute managers. Thisstudy extends
management in an organization under stress into a new arena—defence policy—to examine how managerial quality
affects public p olicy outcomes in confli ct environments.
We examine manager effects in conflict environments where private actors may provide services. Specifically, in
contingency scenarios during the US military operation in Iraq, contractors, including private military and security
companies (PMSCs), provided US military forces and civilian populations with multiple reconstruction and security
services. Services delivered by these legal, profit-maximizing PMSCs range from logistics (e.g., transportation, water
and electricity) and security (e.g., armed guards, convoy protection and training) to intelligence (e.g., surveillance) and
management. The practice of the US contracting out services is pervasive (Schwartz and Church 2012). Organiza-
tional stress from the increase in service demand and the use of PMSCs outpaced the Department of Defense's
(DoD's) managerial capacity (DiNapoli 2012). Consistent with organizations under stress, DoD turned to substitute
managers to fill point of contact managerial positions.
1
We argue that substitute managers affected the management of PMSCs. Two characteristicsof substitute man-
agers, managerial capability and network capability, influence how managers coordinate PMSCs. Managerial capacity,
critical to the delivery of public sector outcomes (Andrews and Boyne 2010), is composed of resource availability
(time and money), the ability to anticipate and adjust to change (Honadle 1981) and utilization of information to plan
and implement policy (Lynn et al. 2000). Military managerial experience is based on rank and military occupation spe-
cialties, but management experience is typically related to core military activities (i.e., combat), not broad reconstruc-
tion and counterinsurgency efforts as found in Iraq.
We argue that managerial experience in DoD's bureaucratic system, regardless of specialty, improves manager
coordination of PMSCs. Managerial experience is identifiable based on rank: enlisted personnel form the foundation
of the military, and officers are managers of the enlisted personnel.
2
Network capability is the ability to coordinate
with the various bureaucracies, US agencies, governments (US and Iraq) and military commands in Iraq. Network
capability is the ability of managers to leverage resources, personnel and information to implement policy(Menahem
and Stein 2013). Networking capability can be identified by military rank because individuals with higher rank have
bureaucratic advantages in the military's hierarchical system. Limited networking capability, in the case of substitute
managers who are enlisted personnel or general officers, may negatively impact manager effectiveness compared to
officers who are specifically trained to engage the private sector. Finally, civilian managers, who lack observable indi-
cators of management experience and are distinct from the military's bureaucratic system, are ineffective PMSC
managers.
We investigate managerial influence by examining PMSCs' effect on civilian casualties, the reduction of which
was a key US military objective (US Department of the Army 2006). The dynamics between PMSCs and conflict out-
comes provide valuable insight into manager efficacy in contingency operations because managers provide oversight
and coordination of PMSC efforts. PMSCs' effect on conflict severity is captured with civilian casualties (Petersohn
2017). PMSCs are secondary actors in conflicts and primarily affect civilian casualties as extensions of their
supported military operation (e.g., combat activities, insurgent campaigns and sectarian violence) (Flavin 2012, p. 92).
If service provision is poor, either military effectiveness is reduced or the use of violence against civilians may reduce
support for the government, particularly in contested areas where government control is weak (Kalyvas 2006).
1
The points of contact, or technical point of contact, are programme managers whose ‘focus is making sure that the final product or service meets the
contractual technical requirements’. These individuals do not write initial contracts but do report on operation. Quote and further details can be found at
https://www.sbir.gov/tutorials/accounting-finance/tutorial-5.
2
Army recruiting language describes the difference this way: ‘Enlisted personnel are the backbone of the service. They have specialties within an Army unit.
Officers act as managers to those Soldiers. They plan missions, give orders, and assign Soldiers to tasks.’Information retrieved from https://www.army.mil/
ranks/
786 TKACH
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