What crises could teach us about complexity and systemic management : the case of the Nestucca oil spill.

From: Technological forecasting and social change, vol. 55, pp., 1996, 107-129

Includes bibliographical references

This article attempts to uncover some systemic management principles for the better management of complex issues. Taking a pragmatic approach the authors have expanded the case methodology proposed by John Dewey to the case study of a major crisis. By proposing that crises allow for a better apprehension of complexity, they study the changes which were carried out or not, to this day, after the 1988 Nestucca oil spill that occurred in Canada only three months prior to the Exxon Valdez disaster. After conducting a linear and systemic analysis of the crisis, it is proposed that the changes institutionalized thus far spring mostly from what they call "behavioral" and "paradigmatic" learning which are weak for addressing complex issues. Proposing that 15% of the people interviewed were able to derive a "systemic learning" from this crisis, the authors suggest several unlocking strategies that allow these systemic lessons to be institutionalized