Anthrax Letters in Sweden?
FOI Dnr 04-62
Kerstin Castenfors, (FOI) Edward Deverell, (Crismart) Eva-Karin Olsson, (Crismart)
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Introduction
When the so-called anthrax letters began to appear in the U.S.A. in early October 2001, FOI (the Swedish National Defense Research Agency), prepared to put its personnel and its expert knowledge at society's disposal, in case Sweden should be subjected to similar incidents.
When the first parcel1 with suspect contents appeared in Sweden in the middle of October, FOI-NBC-Protection (the Division of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection, in the northern city of Umeå), abbrev. FOI-NBC, undertook the task of analyzing its contents. At the request of the Swedish National Police Board (RPS), FOI also agreed to test the contents of any further such parcels that might turn up. FOI is traditionally a research and advisory organization, not a day-to-day operative organization. Thus, NBC-Protection had to make a number of quick decisions concerning management and re-organization, in order to meet the demands of the situation.
Since the term "crisis" is central to this report, a short explanation of what the authors mean by this term is justified. A crisis is a situation and a process in which decision makers perceive2 all of the following:
- a threat to fundamental values
- severe time pressure
- uncertainly
Such situations can have their origins both in internal organizational factors and in external factors (Sundelius, Stern & Bynander, 1997).
This report presents an analysis of interviews and testimonies given by staff of FOI-NBC, in connection with the so-called anthrax crisis. The situation/process which arose at that time was experienced not only as fundamentally threatening to society, but also to FOI-NBC's credibility as an organization. It also involved intense time pressure and a great deal of dayto- day uncertainly.
However, crises not only involve threats, but also present new opportunities. More specifically, if FOI NBC-Protection could successfully master the situation, this could only lead to an increase in its credibility as a (expert) knowledge organization.
In the aftermath of the anthrax crisis, FOI-NBC was naturally interested in finding out if its staff had been given adequate means to do a proper job, if delegated responsibilities were accepted, how assigned tasks were carried out and if the decision making process was employed in a competent manner. In short, how well did the organization actually function when, during that short, intense period in the fall of 2001, it was forced to transform itself from an "advisory" organization to an "operative" one?
Thus, in the spring of 2002, FOI's Division of Defense Analysis in Stockholm was given the task of studying how FOI-NBC in Umeå handled the events of 2001.
- The expressions "parcel" and letter will be used synonymously in this report.
- The concept of "crisis" thus involves a subjective experience which has its basis in the perception of events.