The Self-Designing High- Reliability Organization

Recent studies of large, formal organizations that perform complex, inherently hazardous, and highly technical task under conditions of tight coupling and severe time pressure have generally concluded that most will fail spectaculatory at some point, with attendant human and social const of great severity. The notion that accidents in these systems are normal, that is, to be expected given the coditions and risks of operations and risk of operation, appears to be as well grounded in experience as in theory

The Self-Designing High-Reliability Organization: Aircraft Carrier Flight Operations at Sea

Of all activities studied by our research group, flight operations at sea is the closest to the edge of the envelope -operating under the most extreme conditions in the least stable environment, and with the greatest tension between preserving safety and reliability and attaining maximum operational efficiency

The blameworthiness of health and safety rule violations

Man-made disasters usually lead to the tightening of safety regulations, because rule breaking is seen as a major cause of them. This reaction is based on the presumptions that the safety rules are good and that the rule-breakers are wrong. The reasons the personnel of a coke factory gave for breaking rules raise doubt about the tenability of these presumptions. It is unlikely that this result would have been achieved on the basis of a disaster evaluation or High-Reliability Theory. In both approaches, knowledge of the consequences of human conduct hinders an unprejudiced judgement about the blameworthiness of rule breaking

Technologies as systems and/or networks: issues of dependence, public confidence and constancy

Deployed technologies are expressed in terms of widespread networks of hierarchical organizations. Their presence or prospect may evoke fears of (and hopes for) social dependence. Combining the perspectives of organizational networks with insights from studies of large technical systems provides a basis for considering the potential for risking the political legitimacy of those involved and the challenges of institutional constancy in democratic society.Les systèmes techniques territorialement étendus peuvent être appréhendés comme de vastes réseaux d'organisations hiérarchiques. Leur existence ou leur anticipation peuvent faire craindre (ou espérer) des formes de dépendance sociale à leur égard. En combinant les apports de l'analyse des réseaux organisationnels et de celle des grands systèmes techniques, on peut appréhender le risque de remise en cause de la légitimité politique des acteurs concernés, ainsi que le défi sous-jacent relatif à la constance des institutions dans une société démocratique.La Porte Todd R. Technologies as systems and/or networks: issues of dependence, public confidence and constancy. In: Flux, n°21, 1995. pp. 37-45