Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword, by General Robert T. Marsh
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- I SEEDS OF DISASTER
- II A CRITICAL CHALLENGE
- III MANAGING ORGANIZATIONS
- 6 Managing for the Unexpected: Reliability and Organizational Resilience
- 7 Notes Toward a Theory of the Management of Vulnerability
- 8 Challenges of Assuring High Reliability When Facing Suicidal Terrorism
- 9 Managing for Reliability in an Age of Terrorism
- 10 Organizational Strategies for Complex System Resilience, Reliability, and Adaptation
- IV SECURING NETWORKS
- V CREATING MARKETS
- VI BUILDING TRUST
- VII ROOTS OF RESPONSE
- References
- Contributors
- Author Index
- Subject Index
7 - Notes Toward a Theory of the Management of Vulnerability
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword, by General Robert T. Marsh
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- I SEEDS OF DISASTER
- II A CRITICAL CHALLENGE
- III MANAGING ORGANIZATIONS
- 6 Managing for the Unexpected: Reliability and Organizational Resilience
- 7 Notes Toward a Theory of the Management of Vulnerability
- 8 Challenges of Assuring High Reliability When Facing Suicidal Terrorism
- 9 Managing for Reliability in an Age of Terrorism
- 10 Organizational Strategies for Complex System Resilience, Reliability, and Adaptation
- IV SECURING NETWORKS
- V CREATING MARKETS
- VI BUILDING TRUST
- VII ROOTS OF RESPONSE
- References
- Contributors
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
“For want of a nail the shoe is lost,
for want of a shoe the horse is lost,
for want of a horse the rider is lost,
for want of a rider the battle is lost,
for want of a battle the kingdom is lost,
all for the loss of a horseshoe nail.”
– Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1733–1758“So, naturalists observe, a flea
Hath smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em;
And so proceed ad infinitum.”
– Jonathan Swift, On Poetry. “A Rhapsody,” line 337 (1733)“If a sufficient number of management layers are superimposed on top of each other, it can be assured that disaster is not left to chance.”
– Norman Augustine, Augustine's Laws, 1997INTRODUCTION
In these notes I outline a set of observations about accidents and system failures drawn partly from different parts of the literature than are apparently commonly used in the subject. While they do not form a complete and connected theory of vulnerability, my intent is to point in some directions from which one may be developed. I put the possible theory in the context of complexity and the statistical mechanics of physical phase change. In addition, I give some anecdotal examples of the concepts, drawn from my experience, and intended to enhance the reality of the concepts.
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- Information
- Seeds of Disaster, Roots of ResponseHow Private Action Can Reduce Public Vulnerability, pp. 77 - 98Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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