EVOLUTINARY STAGES
\label{evolutinary-stages}
Variation is the transitional phase during which a transformation
(an innovation or an adaptation) is being generated. This is a dynamic
process which begins with stimuli of various sorts. Most scholars tend
to focus on new challenges mostly technological or tactical. However,
contrary to prevailing assumptions, a stimulus should not be regarded as
exclusively external. Neither should it be perceived solely as a
challenge.11Posen, The Sources of Military Doctrine:
France, Britain, and Germany between the World Wars. One of the most
significant environmental changes is the end of conflicts. Post war eras
constitute a major predicament for militaries. On the one hand, the
armed forces are depleted of resources. On the other hand they are
expected to rebuild their power while applying the lessons that they
learned.
Selection - As we implied earlier, most scholars do not separate
the adoption of a particular transformation from its very introduction.
The institutional evolutionary framework is useful for the purpose of
disaggregating these two phases. Decisions to adopt changes, reject
them, or select one innovation over the other, involve a wide range of
considerations, interests and sentiments. Innovations of large magnitude
require the involvement of civilian policy makers and often depend on
the strength of ties between the initiating and approving
parties.22Balagopal Vissa, ”Agency in Action: Entrepreneurs’
Networking Style and Initiation of Economic Exchange,”
Organization Science 23, no. 2 (2012). The adoptions of small
scale adaptations which are especially relevant for the study of SOFs is
particularly intriguing. Such units enjoy the reputation of being cost
effective. The fact that most units do not require a significant
investment of resources or a major organizational transformation in the
formative phase keeps them in the hands of the military (or even a
single branch).
Retention represents a point in which the change has been
institutionalized.33Farrell, ”Improving in War: Military
Adaptation and the British in Helmand Province, Afghanistan,
2006–2009,” 569. Although this phase seems less dramatic and is thus
relatively marginalized in the literature, it is highly significant. The
perception that private organizations operate in highly dynamic and
volatile environments while public organizations enjoy stability is
misrepresentative.44Lazar Berman, ”Capturing Contemporary
Innovation: Studying Idf Innovation against Hamas and Hizballah,”
ibid.35, no. 1 (2012): 145. The proliferation of SOFs phenomenon
should be analyzed as a dynamic evolutionary diffusion
process.55Horowitz, ”Nonstate Actors and the Diffusion of
Innovations: The Case of Suicide Terrorism.” In the case of elite
units emulation processes which are often mentioned by scholars of
military innovations, are less common than deliberate exchanges of
information and even training within countries and between
countries.66Michael Mintrom and Sandra Vergari, ”Policy Networks
and Innovation Diffusion: The Case of State Education Reforms,”
Journal of Politics 60, no. 1 (1998). The knowledge base that
is acquired through formal and informal social networks is crucial in
the formative phase of every unit.