Diffusion and Adoption of Failure Information

Abstract

Diffusion of knowledge or innovation is the process by which knowledge is communicated through established channels over time among members of a professional group. Failure information connected with engineered facilities is an important bundle of knowledge which needs to be disseminated with information about how designers and practitioners can avoid or minimize failures. This paper investigates two main topics: (1) The connection between theory and practice; and (2) the mechanism of diffusion and adoption of engineering information. Since much of the knowledge used in designing and constructing engineered facilities usually stems from learning from failures, both topics are of great concern to the profession.