Command and

Control Strategy
Group 2:
Amrita Chatterjee
Varun Goyal
Dhruv Rao
Akanksha Tegta

Have you ever

seen a horse with
two riders ?

Better one bad general than two good

ones Napoleon Bonaparte

Its a question of
control

A horse with no bridle is useless, but

equally bad is the horse whose reins you
pull at every turn, in a vain effort to
control. Control comes from almost
letting go, holding the reins so lightly
that the horse feels no tug but senses
the slightest change in tension and
responds as you desire

Alexander controlling the horse/ avatar horse seen

~The rider and the horse should have a

connect, their temper and spirit should
match ~

Any army is like a horse, in that it

reflects the temper and the sprit of its
rider. If there is an uneasiness and an
uncertainty, it transmits itself through
the reins, and the horse feels uneasy and
uncertain. Colonel John W. Thomason Jr

The Broken Chain

Attack of Gallipoli; A Brief History

The French and British

caught in a deadly
stalemate with the
Germans

They were in a standstill

fighting a Trench War
Bang

Ban
g

Bang

Bang

On the
Eastern front
Germany
was badly
beating the
Russian,
allies of
French and
Britain
We have
to help
our
Russian
friends!

Cant
take
this

Lets
attack
Gallipo
li

Britains military planned a

new strategy - stage an
attack on Gallipoli

German
Army!
Attentio
n!!

Victory at
Gallipoli
can
change
the war

Gallipoli
A peninsula
on Turkeys
Dardanelles
Strait

We shall
bewilder
the
Turkish
army!
March 1915,
General Sir Ian
Hamilton was
named to lead the
campaign
Hamilton devised
a new plan - to
land 20,000 men
at Suvla Bay , a
vulnerable target

Fom the beginning

almost everything
went wrong. It was
another stalemate,
Gallipoli was
another disaster

Ban
g

Kaboo
m

I am 61
year old
military
teacher,
never led a
troop in
war. I am
scared !

ATTAC
K

I had a
nervous
breakdown
last year.

Lieutenant General Sir Frederick

Stopford & Major General Frederick
Hammersley would lead the Eleventh
Division. Neither of these men was
Hamiltons first choice.

I have one
request.
Advance to
Tekke Tepe
hills once the
beach is
secured

From Tekke
Tepe the
allies would
dominate the
peninsula

Hamiltons style was to

tell his officers the
purpose and let them
decide the plan of action

The order was simple

enough, but Hamilton, so
as to not to offend his
subordinate, expressed it
in the most general
terms. Most crucially, he
specified no time frame

I am nervous
about the
whole
campaign,
Ill pass it
down to my
colonels let
them decide

Should I
reach Tekke
Tepe as soon
as possible or
if possible? I
dont get it!
Lieutenant
General Sir
Frederick

Major General
Frederick
Hammersley

As the attack began, a lot went wrong as

officers began to argue on the shore

Arrgg
h

Hamilton began to
sense that
something had
gone very bad

The path is
clear, why
arent the
forces
moving
forward!!!

There were no immediate

attempts to capture the hill
Tekke Tepe due to
miscommunication.

We lost because
of groupthink &
ambiguous
objective.
DAMN IT!!!!

By the time Sir Hamilton took charge of command the enemy was able
to get reinforcement forcing the allied forces to move out of Gallipoli.

Interpretation

Hamilton had an excellent plan

The attack on Suvla had strategical
advantage
Surprise element and tactical
advantage
All contingencies were taken care of

But an excellent strategy

is not enough

Didnt foresee subordinates Stopford

and Hammersley
Stopford was inexperienced in leading
troops
Hammersley didnt want to take risk

The chain of command and

circuit of command was
ignored

Hamiltons style was to delegate

power to subordinates
Hamiltons subordinates were
both unsure and nervous about
taking any decision

Failed to adapt to their

weakness

Hamiltons style left a gap

Misinterpretation &
Miscommunication led to the
defeat

Vagueness on the top led to

confusion and lethargy at the
bottom

If people are let to work unsupervised, they will

revert to their natural selfishness
People will see, in orders what they want to see
and their behavior will promote their own
interest
Therefore, adopt your leadership style to the
weakness of the members of your group

Broken Chain
Duryodhana, the prince of the
kingdom had no real control
over the armies
Power was divided

Karana had a personal vendetta against Arjun

Guru Dronacharya was interested in assuring the safety of his
son and his star pupil Arjun
Bhishma had personal bias towards the enemy which clouded his
judgements

Unity of command
The commands were only in the
hands of Yudhisthir
Everyone else had a similar
outlook
Each member was skilled in
warfare and strategy
Yet all the major decisions were
taken by Yudhisthir

Groupthink

People in groups are political: they say and do things

that they think will help their image within the group

They aim to please others, to promote themselves,

rather than to see things dispassionately

Symptoms
~Overestimations of the group; its power and
morality
~Closed-mindedness
~Pressures toward uniformity

Example
A small, isolated country believes that their
country is a major world superpower.
They may eventually begin to think as a
collective whole that they are more powerful
than they are.
This may lead to making a fatal mistake like
going to war with a larger and more powerful
nation.

Swissair

Swissair
Was called the flying bank
This led to the overestimation
Hunter strategy of Expansion
Fired many experts who opposed &
questioned
Lack of monitoring
at every level
Created a silence
Ultimate downfall

Effects of Groupthink
Group is invulnerable
Morality of the group
Pressure to conform became more prominent
Homogeneity, an antecedent to groupthink
Contributed to the poor decision-making process
that eventually led to Swissair's collapse

Marks & Spencer wanted to expand globally

during 1990s. The downfall occurred when there was an

illusion of invulnerability as the company underestimated
potential failure due to years of profitability and success.
The rising cost of using British suppliers became a
burden especially when rival retailers increasingly
imported their goods from low-cost countries

British
Airways

British Airways
~Released globalization expansion strategies
during the 90s
~The illusion of invulnerability in underestimated
potential failure due to years of profitability and
success during challenging markets
~As a result its shares fell from 740 to 300

British Airways
~ 84% drop in profits in its first quarter alone, its worst in
seven years after the establishment of a budget airline, Go
in 1998
~ Ayling was removed from his position and Rod Eddington was
announced as his successor
~ British Airways and KLM conducted talks on a potential
merger, the plan fell through in September 2000
~ British Asia Airways ceased operations in 2001

Remote
Control

At the stroke of
the midnight
hour George C.
Marshall would
become the new
army chief of
staff
The US president Frank D Roosevelt
knew that USA would have to join WWII
in the near future and the US army
needed many reforms

I shall
correct this
system and
come up
with
famous
quotes

The war department was hopelessly

dysfunctional, with many Generals
with monstrous egos

Marshall and Eisenhower came together

few days after the Pearl Harbor
Fire
d

Fire
d

Fire
d

Marshall began to retire the older officers in the war

department and replaced them with younger men whom he
had personally trained

Boom

I shall make
Marshall
proud.
Sir! Yes! Sir!

Eisenhower soaked in
the Marshall style of
leadership

Marshall suggested
Eisenhower to
develop a protg

In July 1942 as the Americans prepared to enter the war by fighting

along side the British Army in Africa, Marshall named Eisenhower as
commander in the European Theater of Operation
Protg
The
we all
chief of
need a
staff and
protg
I think
to survive
alike

This created a chain of command of like minded

people

Precisio
n!
Precisio
n!
Precisio
n!

Marshall didnt like excess

in paperwork as well as in
the men who reported to
him

SMART
MAN

One
page
report
only

Interpretation

War department was filled with old

generals who had their own agenda
George C Marshall replaced them with
younger competent members who
shared his views

Streamlined the organization:

cutting out waste

There were too many battles to be fought within

the War department
He didnt try to micromanage the department

Key here was selection, grooming

and placement of his protg

His indirect style of communication was

highly effective
Marshall showed dissatisfaction in a
subtle way

More time and attention for the larger

picture than on petty details

Lee Lacocca
~Lee Lacocca, former President of Ford, took over Chrysler in
1979
~ He obtained multi-billion dollar loans worth $ 1.4 billion
from the US government to remake Chrysler
~ Lacocca, then reformed management, laid off workers and
negotiated with all of the key stakeholders
~ Chrysler was able to become successful and profitable
again in 1982, paying back the loans in just three years
~ Chrysler successfully came back from bankruptcy and repaid
every cent it borrowed

General Motors
~ The automaker emerged from bankruptcy proceedings on July 10,
2009
~ On December 1, 2009, Ed Whitacre became interim CEO

~ Cancelled unnecessary projects that couldnt compete,

streamlined processes and selling parts that were necessary
~ In just 16 months following Whitacres arrival, GM launched the
largest IPO in history at $23.1 billion, returning GM to a much more
positive situation

Keys to
Warfare

Effective leadership
Deft and subtle touch

PM Narendra Modi

Warfare and leadership

Unity of Command

Chanakyas advice to Chandragupta

Maurya

Visual

Groupthink
Divided leadership is a recipe for disaster

Pearl Harbor
Incident

Control
Assembling a skilled team
sharing common goals and
values
Band of Brothers

Visual

A Directed Telescope
Supply of information through
the chain

Napoleon Bonaparte

Political Moles
Weed them out/ isolate them
before they arrive
Queen Elizabeth I of England

Visual

Pay attention to the orders

Coach instructing his

players

Visual

Thank you