Information Systems: Failure Analysis

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XV

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2. Systemic Aspects of Information System Failure

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Disaster Warning Systems: Learning from Failure

      • Harold D. Foster

      Pages 3-13

   3. System Issues in Information System Failure

      • Anthony Debons

      Pages 15-19

   4. System Failure Models as a Result of Design Inadequacy

      • Andrew E. Bilinski

      Pages 21-27

   5. Failure of Business Information Systems

      • John D. Spiers

      Pages 29-36

   6. The Relationship Between Information and Decision Making and the Effect on the Reliability and Failure of Information Systems

      • M. C. Yovits, A. de Korvin, R. Kleyle, L. Medsker, M. Mascarenhas

      Pages 37-46

   7. For the Record—Some Difficulties of Generating, Discerning, Transmitting and Receiving a Signal

      • Derek Conway

      Pages 47-52

   8. Two Examples of Partly Failing Information Systems

      • J. G. Kretzschmar

      Pages 53-56

3. Investigative Methods for Analysis of Information System Failure

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 57-57

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   2. Application of Team Concept/Systems Approach to Investigation of Major Mishaps

      • Rudolf Kapustin

      Pages 59-65

   3. The Investigative Techniques Used by the Challenger Commission to Address Information System Failures as They Related to the Space Shuttle Accident

      • Randy R. Kehrli

      Pages 67-72

   4. Accident Analysis and Information System Failure Analysis

      • M. Trung Ho

      Pages 73-78

   5. Factors in the Investigation of Human Error in Accident Causation

      • Michael L. Barnett

      Pages 79-83

   6. The Investigation of Information Failures in Organizations

      • Donald Mason

      Pages 85-89

   7. Information System Failures During Hazardous Material Spills

      • William F. Stubler, Darlene K. Susa Anderson

      Pages 91-99

   8. Control of Information Generated During Failure Analysis of Information Systems

      • J. Howard Petrie

      Pages 101-105

4. Human Issues in Failure Analysis

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 107-107

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   2. Management Strategies and Information Failure

      • Ron Westrum

      Pages 109-127

   3. Investigating Sources of Error in the Management of Crises: Theoretical Assumptions and a Methodological Approach

      • Irving L. Janis

      Pages 129-162

Although system analysis is a well established methodology, the specific application of such analysis to information systems is a relatively new endeavor. Indeed, it may be said to be still in the trial-and-error stage. In recent years, such analysis has been given impetus by the numerous accounts of information system failures, some of which have led to serious consequences -e.g., the accident at Three Mile Island, the chemical spills at Bophal, India, and at Institute, West Virginia, and the loss of the space shuttle Challenger. Analysis of the failure of the W. T. Grant Company, the third largest retail organization in the United States, indicated that improper use of the available information was a significant factor in that failure. In spite of these incidents and their widespread impact, only meager attempts have been made to develop an effective methodology for analyzing the information systems involved in such incidents. There have been no well developed guidelines for determining the causes of such events and for recommending solutions so that similar failures could be avoided. To address the need for such a methodology, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sponsored an Advanced Research Workshop attended by a group of 32 scientists, scholars, and expert investigators, representing a variety of disciplines and countries.

• Factor
• form
• group
• information
• information system
• organization
• retail
• system
• system analysis

• Westinghouse Research and Development Center, Pittsburgh, USA

  John A. Wise

• University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA

  Anthony Debons

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