With applied business administration as his starting point, Eric-Hans Kramer has built up an interdisciplinary profile. His previous research focused on the influence of the organisational structure of the Dutch armed forces on military task forces and the problem-solving abilities of operators, including from the perspective of system safety. Kramer also contributed to the research programme “Ethics of Military Practice” and focused on socio-technical innovation in the military organisation. In this role, Kramer approaches the transition and development of the military organisation as a social issue, asking which organisational forms and types of governance can facilitate the legitimate deployment of military personnel in the future.
The transition and development of the military organisation is a comprehensive social issue in which it is increasingly becoming a single player in a broad security complex. This influences the functioning of military professionals, and the question is which organisational forms and which governance can facilitate the legitimate deployment of the armed forces in the future.
About Eric-Hans Kramer
Prof. Dr Eric-Hans Kramer (1969, Nijmegen) began his academic career at Leiden University, where he obtained his degree in psychology with a specialisation in theoretical psychology in 1995. In 2004, he completed his PhD at Eindhoven University of Technology with his thesis ‘Organising Doubt: Self-organisation and Army Units in Crisis Operations.’ This study focused on the relationship between the organisational structure of the Dutch armed forces on the one hand, the composition issues of military task forces on the other, and the problem-solving capabilities of operators. All this was based on the premise that military task forces must develop the ability to deal with dynamic environmental complexity. An important conclusion is that an organisation whose structure is designed for deployment in large-scale conflicts structurally causes complex issues in the composition and organisational integration of task forces, which ultimately manifests itself during deployment in significant pressure on the problem-solving capabilities of military professionals.
After working for several years as a University Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology at the Faculty of Military Sciences, Kramer took up the position of Associate Professor of Human Factors and Systems Safety at the same organisation in 2010. In September 2018, he was appointed Professor of Military Management and Organisation, also at the Faculty of Military Sciences. Kramer is also the independent chair of the Board of Experts on Occupational Health and Safety.