The Need to Reconcile Concepts that Characterize Systems Withstanding Threats

Abstract

Desirable system performance in the face of threats and disruptions has been characterized by various management concepts. Through semi-structured interviews with editors of journals in the fields of emergency response and systems management, a literature review, and professional judgment, we identified nine related and often interchangeably-used system performance concepts: adaptability, agility, reliability, resilience, resistance, robustness, safety, security, and sustainability. We analysed expert responses and reviewed the linguistic definitions and mathematical framing of these concepts to understand their applications. We found a lack of consensus on their usage between interview subjects, but using a mathematical framing enriched the linguistic definitions and enabled formulating comparative visualizations and system-specific definitions for the concepts. We propose a conceptual framing to relate the concepts for management purposes. A better understanding of these concepts will allow system planners to pursue management strategies best suited to their unique system dynamics and specific objectives of 'goodness' that all these concepts bring.