Trade-Offs as Symptoms of Mismatches Between Sociotechnical Systems: A Case Study involving Commercial Aviation and Air Traffic Control

Trade-offs occur frequently within sociotechnical systems and allow the system to maintain its output in the face of the variable performance of its constituent components. Trade-offs also occur between systems that must interact with each other. Some of these intersystemic tradeoffs may threaten the integrity of one or both systems particularly if the allowable magnitude of the trade-off is not clearly defined. Such unbounded trade-offs are symptomatic of fundamental mismatches between the goals of these interacting systems and represent a risk. These trade-offs can be eliminated by aligning the goals of the systems. In this way the required trade-off is made at the design stage and eliminates the need for the operators to undertake potentially risky trade-offs in dynamic, time-limited conditions.