Army, by Definition Is a Part of Essay

Army, by definition is a part of the U.S. military which is made up of three branches. The other two components are the Air Force and Navy. All report directly to the Department of Defense or (DoD). The DoD is organized into two branches, the first is active duty and the second called the reserve. For the Army the DoD reserve 'departments' that provide support are the United States Army Reserve and the Army National Guard (Army.mil, 2012).

In comparison to a business entity, there are several components or departments that make up the operations and administration function of the army. The mission of the Army is broken down into operational and institutional departments (Army.mil, 2012).

Each of these components have a specific purpose that supports the others much like a business entity has several departments that support the product or service offered by the company.

The operational component is further broken down into the various armies that are numbered based on location. There are several levels of rank based on the number of recruits serving under the command level. The lowest level is a squad followed by a platoon, company, battalion, brigade, division, corps and finally field army (See Chart A (Army.mil, 2012)).

Chart A: Command level and corresponding rank and number of soldiers ( Army.mil, 2012).

The institutional Army is the component that is necessary to support the operational army. Much like administration within a business entity supports operations consisting of the Human Resource Department, Finance or Accounting, Purchasing, provide services for the internal needs of the business. The Institutional Army does the recruiting, training, provides needed supplies and equipment, and arranges deployment (Army.mil, 2012). The job of the Institutional Army is to ensure the Operational Army is ready when called upon. The same is true within a business, the administrators have the job of providing all of the required resources for the business to remain operational on a daily basis.Both of these components Operations and Institutional Army or in a business Administration and Operations depend on the other to function. In the case of the Institutional Army or Administration the sole purpose is to support Operations.

The culture in the Army is based on supporting one another. The Army is one unit and operates as one, there are no individuals but a team that works together to achieve goals and objectives. It is a bureaucracy where there are many rules and levels of management. Each job description is well defined and the process to complete each task documented.

In order to complete any task, permission is needed from a person in command. The way to move up in rank is to be a top performer and team player.

Organizational Culture Profile (e-Library.com, 2012).

OCP Profile: Figure 1.

Based on the OCP the Army has a Stable profile. The stable profile is based on orders or rules that are expected to be followed. The ramifications of obeying or disobeying orders is predefined based on preset conditions, policies, and guidelines. Therefore consequences are micro-managed making the culture one that is bureaucratic and highly predictable. The productivity level therefore is predictable and the result is a consistent level of output. The culture is slow to change as this requires multiple levels of input from managers or officers with the authority to approve changes. The Army clearly fits this profile as change requires a decision made from a centralized source of authority (OCP e-Library.com, 2012).

Policy for Hiring

In order to join the Army, there is….....