THE PDSA CYCLE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS IN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION

Abstract

The aim of the following article is to outline the PDSA cycle (Plan-Do-Study-Act) as a method for testing potential improvement opportunities and establish whether its implementation would have favorable effect on the organizational level. That provides useful guidelines for future management decisions and additional improvements. The article presents the core concept and role of the PDSA cycle, along with its main advantages and disadvantages.
The four steps of conduction of the method and their main sub-steps are also explained as follows:
 Step 1. Plan – recruit a team, formulate an aim statement, describe the environment and process a brainstorm, define the main problems, and identify causes and alternatives;
 Step 2. Do – conduct an action plan, record the observed information and perform tests on the collected data;
 Step 3. Study – analyze the collected data and compare it to the predictions;
 Step 4. Act – reflect the results and implement the change or start the cycle again.
Furthermore, the article concentrates on the critical infrastructure and the importance of its normal functioning and preserved safety and security. Its disruption or destruction under any form could pose a serious threat not only to its maintenance but also to the interconnected infrastructures, organizations and third parties.
As an instrument for protection of the critical infrastructure is presented the behavioral analysis and more specifically the systems based on it, designed to detect suspicious or hostile individuals. Different important aspects concerning the behavioral analysis systems are also considered.
Last but not least, the article presents a hypothetical example to demonstrate the conduction of PDSA cycle in the implementation process of behavioral analysis as an instrument for improvement of the protection of critical infrastructure. The example follows the PDSA cycle’s steps and sub-steps from the point of view of a hypothetical critical infrastructure with a significant amount of individuals in its territory and facing a difficulty in maintaining regular entrance checks in order to detect suspicious and hostile persons. The example illustrates the process of conduction of PDSA cycle, the probable activities in connection with the method and the final management decisions based on it.