search query: @indexterm Disasters / total: 98
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Author: | Rudolph, J. W. Repenning, N. P. |
Title: | Disaster Dynamics: Understanding the Role of Quantity in Organizational Collapse |
Journal: | Administrative Science Quarterly
2002 : MAR, VOL. 47:1, p. 1-30 |
Index terms: | DISASTERS ORGANIZATION ANALYTICAL REVIEW QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES |
Language: | eng |
Abstract: | This article examines the role that the quantity of non- novel events plays in precipitating disaster through the development of a formal (mathematical) system- dynamics model. Building on existing case studies of disaster, the authors develop a general theory of how an organizational system responds to an on-going stream of non-novel interruptions to existing plans and procedures. The authors show how an overaccumulation of interruptions can shift an organizational system from a resilient, self-regulating regime, which offsets the effects of this accumulation, to a fragile, self-escalating regime that amplifies them. The authors offer a new characterization of the conditions under which organizations may be prone to major disasters caused by an accumulation of minor interruptions. |
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