Abstract
An organization's effectiveness depends on a successful integration of strategyplanning long-term goals and monitoring performance-and structure: allocating resources, installing lines of authority, and information flow. This article shows how the Royal Navy responded to a serious disjuncture between strategy and structure, stemming from its preoccupation with adjusting to rapid technological change and a consequent neglect of war planning, by forming a naval war staff. One of the difficulties encountered in establishing the war staff was a shortage of suitable officers to man it, which was caused by an overly centralized hierarchy of command.
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