With thousands of miles of unprotected borders, tens of thousands of critical power generating plants, chemical processing units and other hazardous manufacturing facilities, and hundreds of thousands of miles unprotected roads and rail, electric, gas, and telecommunications lines, the United States is impossible to protect completely against terrorist attack. In addition to military action against terrorists abroad and use of intelligence to intercept attacks before they are launched, what organizational strategies are best suited for providing homeland security and protecting critical infrastructure? In this chapter, I address the problem of critical infrastructure protection from an organization studies perspective. I begin by discussing the nature of critical infrastructures as large technical systems with distinct organizational properties. I then turn to organizational strategies to deal with what is identified as a “wicked” problem. While no specific organizational solution will solve critical infrastructure protection, a number of strategies may help solve it, notably the encouragement and protection of high reliability organizations and professionals who work in them. Finally, I argue that political leadership will be necessary to effect the changes proposed.

THE NATURE OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES

Critical infrastructures exhibit characteristics of large technical systems. Their technology and organization are highly complex. Key elements are geographically dispersed, but they are linked together in networks and nodes, with varying degrees of connectivity. Some systems, such as telecommunications and electric power, operate in real-time (meaning that there is no possibility of stockpiling or scheduling demand – the whole system, from end to end, is “on” all the time).