Stress and stability: New concepts for risk management

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Fiksel, Joseph

Affiliations: Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, MA 02140, U.S.A.

Abstract: To permit a more basic understanding of the origins of risk, the concepts of stress and stability are respectively defined to represent the displacement of a system from equilibrium and its tendency to maintain that displacement. Risk is seen as the potential for unexpected disruptions in a stress situation. Two alternatives exist for dealing with risk: alleviation, or reduction in stress, and fortification, or increase in stability. Several related categories of stress are defined, namely physical, biological, financial, cognitive, and societal stress. Some possible measures of stress and stability are proposed for each category, many of them requiring a fuzzy representation. Stress assessment methods are described, which could provide a useful basis for risk management in both the private and public sectors.

Keywords: Risk, stress, stability, systems analysis, global assessment

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-1981-2105

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 26-33, 1981