Defining the functional resonance analysis space: Combining Abstraction Hierarchy and FRAM

Considering complexity as strictly dependent on the resolution of the representation, this paper explores the compatibility of the Hollnagel's FRAM with Rasmussen's ion Hierarchy (AH). Starting from the AH's traditional ion/Decomposition division, this study conceptually explores the benefits arising from combining an ion/Agency framework with system-thinking, in particular with FRAM. This combined approach, which allows systemic functional analysis at different levels of abstraction and among different agents, for the development of a systemic multi-layer functional structure, useful for intra-agent inter-level and intra-agent intra-level analyses. An application of the framework in the railway domain illustrates some conceptual outcomes of the approach, confirming the relevance of FRAM's fractality as well as the potential for enhanced knowledge representation associated with a multi-dimension approach.