helping many government organizations establish positive reputations B u s i n e s s F i n a n c e

Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

Library Research Assignment

Part 1

Organizational culture is made up of the values, ethics, and behaviors that contribute to the environment of an agency. The culture of an organization consists of its inner day-to-day operations and interactions with those stakeholders outside the agency. In the past, the lack of intelligence and information sharing has been a constant concern for those within and external to the intelligence community (IC).

For this discussion, examine the culture of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), past and present. Determine whether the internal culture of the agency should be changed, and then explain in detail why or why not. Complete the following tasks:

• Describe the culture of the CIA.
• Do you think the culture of the CIA should be changed?
  • If so, what aspect of the culture would you change? How would you implement such a change?
  • If you do not think the culture of the CIA should change, explain why you think this. 

Part 2 

There are different types of intelligence disciplines. Is one type better than another? Why or why not? Complete the following tasks on this subject:

• Determine which intelligence discipline you believe is best.
• Provide a detailed summary of this type of intelligence discipline.
• Explain why it is better.

Use APA citations from sources to support your argument.

Responses to Other Students: 

My peer class mate

Organizations around most CIA employees have regular desk jobs, whether as experts or executives, and the massive majority are ordinary people with tough work morals who do their jobs. Reading this it said that “A small percentage are actually “spies” like in the movies and spying in real life is nothing like spying in the movies. A smaller percentage still exist in an ethical grey area, participating in illegal activities that are off the books.” Which I feel is true I feel like some are in an area that may be a known department in the past it was formed from the WWII wit all the employees that formed the office of strategic services It has it has become more known and present I feel like they are still involved with the same culture and with the same morals from the past it has improved a little, I feel like in some way you need to really work with your team and the management the people that are involved for things that may seem difficult they need to be handled situations accordingly and to different situations. In Reading, the article said, “One of the repeated themes in these reports is that the Agency must change its “culture.” (Jones, 2006) reading that made me see that even then they wanted to change the culture and the way it was to something to improved and different he saw how the culture was. I feel after reviewing certain things within the CIA I do feel some thing can improve and help the public more.

If it was anything I wanted to change with the culture I would think things should start off with cultural intelligence. I would clear the state of mind, and when I say a clear state, I mean reframe your internal discussion by thinking, “That’s curious…I would like to know more.” This also means being extra conscious of your own biases and the need to make people who do things differently wrong. Them develop an understanding of identity in relation to others. Find specific ways in which your own cultural experience and events have influenced your viewpoint, and how other people’s behaviors are affected by their society and experience. Look for differences and similarities. Be conscious of the reality that not every person from a specific culture. Put yourself in circumstances with people from various cultures. I feel like this is what does things a great workplace to be able to work I feel like its not only in my view but in others’ views of rather then it being just one department going toward culture. 

next classmate

Part One:

Many organizations within the government have to implement certain cultural practices to maintain the integrity and privacy of the organization. Much of the culture within the C.I.A. leaves a lot to the imagination because it has to maintain a culture of secrecy for security reasons. Sustaining security also led many organizations to adopt a “need-to-know” basis for sharing information. When the C.I.A. was initially founded in 1947, it was perceived to have a culture of failure because it was often blamed for any incidents where it was involved (The Culture, n.d.). In addition, the agency was involved in several covert missions, making it necessary to destroy any documents linking it to those missions. This destruction of information established a culture that had to eliminate certain forms of evidence to maintain security (C.I.A. Culture, 1997). Some cultural elements are deeply ingrained into the organization’s beliefs, while others are not. When organizations have negative cultural factors that are deeply ingrained, it is very hard, if not impossible to change. Today, the culture has not changed much, as many prior agents still complain of an unfair culture filled with arrogance, superiority complexes, and poor leadership (Castelli, 2020). Changing the culture could create more equality within the agency. Reviewing and revising certain practices could help the C.I.A. improve its public image and enhance the agency’s culture.

Changing the culture to implement more transparency and ethics could benefit the agency and its reputation. Other government agencies have found ways to maintain security while also being transparent, helping many government organizations establish positive reputations with the public. Prior C.I.A. agents have reported that the agency makes its own rules because leadership feels they know best (Victor, 2006). Having higher ethical standards and enforcing a comprehensive code of conduct would ensure the agency’s integrity. Working on its public image through transparency is also something that the C.I.A. could do to minimize the negative perceptions associated with the agency.

Part Two:

Each form of intelligence gathering is important and valuable in its own way. However, human intelligence (HUMINT) can be very beneficial to operations through overt and covert means. Human intelligence, also known as espionage, is a form of intelligence gathering that involves obtaining data from human sources. The individuals gathering the information could be public officials or private individuals who are privy to certain forms of information and willing to share that information. Human intelligence is better because spies can often pose as trusted individuals and gather first-hand details that other forms of intelligence may not be able to obtain (Shulsky & Schmitt, 2002). First-hand information is often more reliable than hearsay or second-hand information. For example, this discipline can monitor and surveil individuals and groups suspected of terrorist activities to ensure that they do not act, which can prevent acts of terror against the United States. Well-founded intelligence is essential to keeping the country and its citizens safe from bad actors.