Network theory has been widely used to describe many complex systems belonging to several fields from physics to sociology. Particularly interesting are multilayer networks which concurrently account for several types of relationships, without necessarily aggregating them. The functional resonance analysis method (FRAM) is an agnostic method (i.e., not making modeling assumptions) allowing semantically rich descriptions of the relationships among functions constituting a socio-technical system. This richness may soon become overwhelming in case of not trivial FRAM models. A multilayer network represents a promising choice for combining the long-proven experience in network theory with the FRAM’s agnosticism. On these observations, this article shows how a FRAM model can be reinterpreted as a five-layer multilayer-directed network without any loss of information, even reducing the cognitive workload required for the analysts. This paper defines a methodology able to prioritize potentially critical functions through dedicated network centrality descriptors, and to generate instantiations for comparison and benchmarking of scenario-based envisioned solutions. A walk-through application in industrial operations management confirms the feasibility and validity of the proposed methodology.

中文翻译：

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揭示社会技术系统中的关键功能：将 FRAM 映射到多层网络

网络理论已被广泛用于描述属于从物理学到社会学的多个领域的许多复杂系统。特别有趣的是多层网络，它同时解释了几种类型的关系，而不必聚合它们。功能共振分析方法 (FRAM) 是一种不可知的方法（即，不进行建模假设），允许对构成社会技术系统的功能之间的关系进行丰富的语义描述。在非平凡的 FRAM 模型的情况下，这种丰富性可能很快就会变得势不可挡。多层网络代表了将网络理论中久经考验的经验与 FRAM 的不可知论相结合的有希望的选择。根据这些观察，本文展示了如何将 FRAM 模型重新解释为五层多层定向网络而不会丢失任何信息，甚至可以减少分析师所需的认知工作量。本文定义了一种方法，能够通过专用的网络中心性描述符对潜在的关键功能进行优先级排序，并生成实例以进行基于场景的预想解决方案的比较和基准测试。工业运营管理中的演练应用证实了所提议方法的可行性和有效性。并生成用于比较和基准测试基于场景的预想解决方案的实例。工业运营管理中的演练应用证实了所提议方法的可行性和有效性。并生成实例以对基于场景的预想解决方案进行比较和基准测试。工业运营管理中的演练应用证实了所提议方法的可行性和有效性。