Joint Interagency Task Force-South : the best known, least understood interagency success / by Evan Munsing and Christopher J. Lamb.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Munsing, Evan

Contributor:

Lamb, Christopher J. (Christopher Jon), 1955-

National Defense University. Center for Strategic Research

Series:

Strategic perspectives (National Defense University. Institute for National Strategic Studies) ; 5.

Institute for National Strategic Studies strategic perspectives ; no. 5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Interagency coordination--United States--Case studies.

Interagency coordination.

Interagency coordination--United States--History.

United States.

Genre:

Case studies.

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (v, 105 pages) : color illustrations, color map.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : National Defense University Press, [2011]

Summary:

Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-South) is well known within the U.S. Government as the "gold standard" for interagency cooperation and intelligence fusion, despite its preference for keeping a low profile and giving other agencies the credit for its successes. It is often cited as a model for whole-of-government problem-solving in the literature on interagency collaboration, and other national security organizations have tried to copy its approach and successes. Despite the plaudits and attention, the way that JIATF-South actually operates has only received superficial analysis. In fact, few people actually understand why JIATF-South works as well as it does or how its success might be replicated. This study attempts to fill the gap in knowledge about JIATF-South as a model for crossorganizational collaboration. It traces the evolution of the task force from its roots in the "War on Drugs" in the 1980s, through its original manifestation as Joint Task Force-4 in the early 1990s and its later reinvention as Joint Interagency Task Force-East (and still later, its renaming as JIATF-South), up until the present day. It then examines how JIATF-South actually works with the help of 10 organizational performance variables taken from organizational and management research on cross-functional teams. Investigating JIATF-South's performance through these different organizational lenses, and weighing the importance of each variable in light of JIATF-South's historical experience, yields a compelling explanation for JIATF-South's stellar performance. The results contribute to a better understanding of interagency teams and help answer the pressing question of whether successes like JIATF-South can be replicated elsewhere in the national security system.

Contents:

Introduction

Interagency coordination and cross-functional teams

Drugs as a national security problem

Legislative solutions

JIATF-South's predecessor : Joint Task Force-4

Austerity spurs innovation : NICCP 1993 and 1994

Early years of the JIATFs : 1994 to 1998

JIATF-East lays the foundation for JIATF-South : 1999 to 2003

JIATF-South : the "gold standard" for interagency operations

Performance variables

Maintaining effectiveness : 2004 to present

Observations

Conclusion.

Notes:

Title from title screen (viewed on Dec. 13, 2011).

"June 2011."

"Center for Strategic Research, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-104).

Electronic reproduction. [Place of publication not identified] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2011.

Other Format:

Print version: Munsing, Evan. Joint Interagency Task Force-South

OCLC:

768193263

Access Restriction:

Use copy Restrictions unspecified