Abstract
As different safety paradigms acknowledge accidents are caused by a chain of unnoticed
factors, safety analysis within socio-technical systems requires to account for multiple
intertwined processes operating simultaneously. Therefore, we adopted the system
dynamics model which was previously developed by Rudolph and Repenning (2002), and
extended it for the Dutch railway system. In addition to discussing its relevance to
practice, we also analyzed the model and found a threshold behavior. That is, depending
on the capability of a system and flows of interruptions within it, the system could remain
in a stable mode or turn into a disaster.
References
Burton, R. M., and B. Obel. (2011), “Computational modeling for what-is, what-might-be, and whatshould-
be studies-and triangulation”, Organization Science, Vol 22, No 5, pp. 1195-1202.
Carayon, P. (2006), “Human factors of complex sociotechnical systems” Applied Ergonomics, Vol 37, No
4, pp. 525-535.
De Bruijn, H., and P. M. Herder. (2009), “System and actor perspectives on sociotechnical systems”, IEEE
Transactions on systems, man, and cybernetics-part A: Systems and Humans, Vol 39, No 5, pp. 981-992.
Emery, F. E., and E. L. Trist. (1960), Socio-technical systems. management sciences, models and
techniques, churchman cw et al.
Feldman, M. S., and B. T. Pentland. (2003), “Reconceptualizing organizational routines as a source of
flexibility and change”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol 48, No 1, pp. 94-118.
Geels, F. W. (2004), “From sectoral systems of innovation to socio-technical systems: Insights about
dynamics and change from sociology and institutional theory”, Research Policy, Vol 33, No 6-7, pp. 897-
920.
Georgantzas, N. C., and E. G. Katsamakas. (2008), “Information systems research with system dynamics”,
System Dynamics Review: The Journal of the System Dynamics Society, Vol 24, No 3, pp. 247-264.
Harrison, J. R., Z. Lin, G. R. Carroll, and K. M. Carley. (2007), “Simulation modeling in organizational
and management research”, Academy of Management Review, Vol 32, No 4, pp. 1229-1245.
Islam, D. M. Z., K. Laparidou, and A. Burgess. (2016), “Cost effective future derailment mitigation
techniques for rail freight traffic management in Europe”, Transportation Research Part C: Emerging
Technologies, Vol 70, pp. 185-196.
Kurtz, C. F., and D. J. Snowden. (2003), “The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and
complicated world”, IBM systems journal, Vol 42, No 3, pp. 462-483.
Li, X., and S. E. Madnick. (2015), “Understanding the dynamics of service-oriented architecture
implementation”, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol 32, No 2, pp. 104-133.
Luna-Reyes, L. F., J. Zhang, J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, and A. M. Cresswell. (2005), “Information systems
development as emergent socio-technical change: a practice approach”, European Journal of Information
Systems, Vol 14, No 1, pp. 93-105.
Mandler, G. (1984), Mind and body: Psychology of emotion and stress. WW Norton & Company
Incorporated.
Manz, C. C., and G. L. Stewart. (1997), “Attaining flexible stability by integrating total quality management
and socio-technical systems theory”, Organization Science, Vol 8, No 1, pp. 59-70.
Perrow, C. (2011), Normal accidents: Living with high risk technologies-updated edition. Princeton
University Press.
Reason, J. (1990), Human error. Cambridge University Press.
Reason, J. (2017), The human contribution: unsafe acts, accidents and heroic recoveries. CRC Press.
12
Reiman, T., and P. Oedewald. (2007), “Assessment of complex sociotechnical systems-theoretical issues
concerning the use of organizational culture and organizational core task concepts”, Safety Science, Vol 45,
No 7, pp. 745-768.
RIVM, Y. K.-P., and P. T. RIVM. (2014), Towards a new risk-calculation method for the transport of
dangerous goods by rail technical report on failure frequencies of Dutch freight wagons based on incident
data-RIVM report 620550010/2014.
Rudolph, J. W., and N. P. Repenning. (2002), “Disaster dynamics: Understanding the role of quantity in
organizational collapse”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol 47, No 1, pp. 1-30.
Saurin, T. A., and S. S. Gonzalez. (2013), “Assessing the compatibility of the management of standardized
procedures with the complexity of a sociotechnical system: Case study of a control room in an oil refinery”,
Applied Ergonomics, Vol 44, No 5, pp. 811-823.
Snowden, D. J., and M. E. Boone. (2007), “A leader’s framework for decision making”, Harvard business
Review, Vol 85, No 11, pp. 68.
Soliman, M., T. A. Saurin, and M. J. Anzanello. (2018), “The impacts of lean production on the complexity
of socio-technical systems”, International Journal of Production Economics, No 197, pp. 342-357.
Songhori, M. J., L. A. van Dongen, and M. Rajabalinejad. (2020), “A multi-domain approach toward
adaptations of socio-technical systems: The Dutch railway case”, In System of Systems Engineering
Conference: IEEE. Budapest, Hungary.
Trist, E. L., and K. W. Bamforth. (1951), “Some social and psychological consequences of the longwall
method of coal-getting: An examination of the psychological situation and defences of a work group in
relation to the social structure and technological content of the work system”, Human Relations, Vol 4, No
1, pp. 3-38.
Turner, B. A. (1976), “The organizational and interorganizational development of disasters”,
Administrative Science Quarterly, pp. 378-397.
Weick, K. E. (1990), “The vulnerable system: An analysis of the tenerife air disaster”, Journal of
Management, Vol 16, No 3, pp. 571-593.
Williams, T. M. (1999), “The need for new paradigms for complex projects”, International Journal of
Project Management, Vol 17, No 5, pp. 269-273.