Organizational Strategies for Complex System Resilience, Reliability, and Adaptation

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.