Open AccessExploring the Causal Relationship between Factors Affecting US Army Recruitment
Author(s) -
Graham Ungrady,
Matthew Dabkowski
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
industrial and systems engineering review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2329-0188
DOI - 10.37266/iser.2021v9i2.pp83-90
Subject(s) - causality (physics) , context (archaeology) , quality (philosophy) , causal model , operations research , observational study , work (physics) , public relations , psychology , political science , computer science , engineering , geography , epistemology , medicine , mechanical engineering , philosophy , physics , archaeology , pathology , quantum mechanics
Every year, United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) dedicates considerable resources to recruiting and accessing soldiers. As the largest branch of the United States Armed Forces, the Army must meet a high recruiting quota while competing in the free-labor market for quality recruits. Over the past two decades, the Army’s success in recruiting ebbed and flowed within the broader context of society and global events. While numerous studies have examined the statistical relationship between factors associated with recruitment, these studies are observational and definitively ascribing causality in retrospect is difficult. With this in mind, we apply fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM), a graphical method of representing uncertainty in a dynamic system, to model and explore the complex causal relationships between factors. We conclude our paper with implications for USAREC’s efforts, as well as our model’s limitations and opportunities for future work.