SimPersonnel: a prototype policy simulation model for enterprise-wide manpower management in the US Navy

Abstract

Manpower management is a complex and daunting enterprise-wide endeavour in all large organisations, but nowhere is this truer than in the military in which manpower decisions have a direct impact on national security. Many of the same challenges facing business organisations plague the US Navy. Units operate in a stove-piped fashion in which data, information, and knowledge are not distributed and shared across the enterprise. An initiative is underway to create a networked Navy, one in which information systems are integrated, communication technologies are exploited to distribute critical information for better enterprise management and decision making, and creative technology-based approaches to problems are encouraged. In this paper, we present a novel application of discrete-event simulation for enterprise-wide manpower management. We describe the modelling process, features, and benefits of our prototype manpower management system, SimPersonnel. The model and prototype system address the new directions personnel management is likely to take in the 21st century: seamless access to information and knowledge; a fully integrated manpower, personnel, and training (MPT) information system; the ability to simulate plans and policies across the entire MPT spectrum. SimPersonnel, developed to demonstrate proof of concept and to assess the feasibility of a full-scale model of the entire US Navy enlisted manpower management system, represents a unique and promising technology-based approach to enterprise-wide manpower management. The process of system development and the benefits of the system are applicable to enterprise-wide manpower management challenges in domains other than the military, such as manufacturing and production organisations.