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.

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Systemic Aspects of Information System Failure.- Disaster Warning Systems: Learning from Failure.- System Issues in Information System Failure.- System Failure Models as a Result of Design Inadequacy.- Failure of Business Information Systems.- The Relationship Between Information and Decision Making and the Effect on the Reliability and Failure of Information Systems.- For the Record - Some Difficulties of Generating, Discerning, Transmitting, and Receiving a Signal.- Two Examples of Partly Failing Information Systems.- Investigative Methods for Analysis of Information System Failure.- Application of Team Concept/Systems Approach to Investigation of Major Mishaps.- The Investigative Techniques Used by the Challenger Commission to Address Information System Failures as They Related to the Space Shuttle Accident.- Accident Analysis and Information System Failure Analysis.- Factors in the Investigation of Human Error in Accident Causation.- The Investigation of Information Failures in Organizations.- Information System Failures During Hazardous Material Spills.- Control of Information Generated During Failure Analysis of Information Systems.- Human Issues in Failure Analysis.- Management Strategies and Information Failure.- Investigating Sources of Error in the Management of Crises: Theoretical Assumptions and a Methodological Approach.- Fallible Humans and Vulnerable Systems: Lessons Learned from Aviation.- Human Reliability in Information Systems.- Error Auditing in Air Traffic Control.- Failure Analysis of Information Systems: Reflections on the Use of Expert Systems in Information Systems.- Fault Management, Knowledge Support, and Responsibility in Man-Machine Systems.- An Interactionist's View of System Pathology.- Mental Models and Failures in Human-Machine Systems.- Technological Issues in Failure Analysis.- Failure of Process Plant Monitoring Systems.- Use of Software Reliability Tools in Information System Failure.- Failure Analysis of Information Systems with a Cybernetic System Perspective.- Artificial Intelligence Techniques for the Distribution of Critical Information.- Failure Analysis of Information Systems: An Overall Discussion and a Simple Calculative Rationality Model.- A Practical Approach to Automated Testing in PC Boards.- Failure Analysis of Information Systems in Small Manufacturing Enterprises : The Importance of the Human Interface.- Group Reports.- Group Report: System Issues.- Group Report: Investigation Techniques.- Group Report: Organizational Issues.- Group Report: Hardware and Software.- Workshop Participants.