Assessing Resource Value and Relationships between Objectives in Effects-Based Operations

The purpose of this research was developing techniques to calculate the value of aresource within the context of campaign objectives, to identify competing objectives, andto identify conflicting objectives to improve a commander's ability to allocate limitedresources. A methodology was developed to express a campaign's objective hierarchy interms of a set of desired end states for the campaign's system of systems. Value theorywas used to identify the resource's value in terms of the direct and indirect effects that areproduced to achieve the campaign's objectives. Binding resource constraints within aninteger program were used to identify the objectives that competed for the simultaneoususe of limited resources. Conflicting objectives were identified using interaction tables.Collectively, the research translated doctrinal, effects-based operational concepts intoactionable processes within deliberate planning and crisis action planning horizons.