Systemigram Modeling of the Small Vessel Security Strategy for Developing Enterprise Resilience

Abstract

Enterprises exist in webs of alliances, partnerships, and cooperatives and must necessarily reflect their strategic intent at the level of these networks. This network level strategic intent is fundamental to developing security strategies and operational policies that consider emergent, decentralized behavior of the enterprise as a positive contribution to ensuring resilience in enterprise service. Recent strategies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have articulated that our homeland security solutions will only be found in the national enterprise via a collective and shared responsibility that stretches from national to local to community involvement. This paper presents our results from using the Boardman Soft Systems Methodology (BSSM) and supporting graphical systemic diagramming technique, i.e., systemigrams, to better understand and identify the significant elements and their relationships within the small vessel security enterprise as articulated by the DHS Small Vessel Security Strategy. BSSM and systemigrams allow us to help identify organizational and communication bottlenecks, provide stakeholders with the knowledge about the architectural structure of the extended network of activities in their environment, and equip system analysts with relevant information on understanding systemic issues with consideration of resilience factors. We conclude by identifying what we believe to be key observations in the realization of this strategy between maritime security partners and the small vessel community via maritime governance that should be embraced and not mitigated.