Explain what Perrow means when he says that a technological system is either linear or complex and either loosely or tightly coupled. Give examples.
What will be an ideal response?
By a linear system, Perrow means that components are spread out,
easy to segregate, substitutable, and have little feedback between each other. An
example of this is automobile transportation. A complex system is the reverse of
this—its components are close together, hard to pull apart or substitute, and
have a lot of feedback. A classic example of this is a nuclear power plant.
Coupling refers to the degree of slack or buffer between two items. A nuclear
plant is tightly coupled. A university, conversely, is loosely coupled. For example,
if one student fails the others are unlikely too. Mining is also an example of this.
Conversely with nuclear power, when one things go wrong, its’ tightly coupled
and has a domino effect of problems spurring other problems.
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