Assessing Army Professional Forums

The rate of change in the operational environment outpaces the development of doctrine and schoolhouse instruction, leaders must direct their own development in order to adaptively and professionally meet the challenges brought on by Army transformation. Army professional forums (APFs), powered by advances in collaborative toolsets and multimedia presentation software, provide a means for leader self-development and professional growth. The research was conducted as an initial exploration of this area. The early stages of this initiative present the most valuable opportunity to establish checks that ensure the initiative is functioning effectively and meeting organizational goals. Establishing such checks enhances the organizational impact of the initiative. The APF assessment framework developed in the present research enables the assessment of APFs during the early stages of the Army knowledge-management initiative.