Ubepari ni mfumo changamano wa kijamii, kisiasa na kiuchumi. Kama mfumo mwingine wowote, wa kimitambo au wa kijamii, kushindwa kwake hufuata mifano fulani. Ili kuelewa asili ya kushindwa au kukigundua pindi kinapotokea, ni muhimu sana kuelewa muundo ambao kushindwa huzaliwa na kujidhihirisha. Mojawapo ya miundo ya jumla inayotumika kueleza kushindwa kwa mfumo imeonyeshwa katika kielelezo cha 2. Katika msingi wa muundo wa mfumo, kunaweza kuwepo kasoro au hitilafu moja au zaidi. Hitilafu hizi, zikigunduliwa mapema katika hatua za ukuzaji wa mfumo, huondolewa au kurekebishwa. Ikiwa hitilafu inabaki ndani ya mfumo kwa sababu ya kutozingatiwa na wabunifu au kwa kukosa maarifa kamili, inakuwa hitilafu iliyojificha. Hitilafu iliyojificha haitauumiza mfumo hadi itakapochochewa au kuamshwa na kichocheo. Kichocheo ni hali fulani au mazingira fulani yanayoamsha au kuchochea hitilafu fulani ndani ya mfumo. Katika mifumo ya kimwili, hitilafu zilizojificha hufichuliwa na kugunduliwa kupitia upimaji wa kina unaoweka mfumo katika aina zote za hali na mazingira. Kwa bahati mbaya, mifumo ya kijamii, kisiasa na kiuchumi haiwezi kupimwa maabara! Kwa hiyo, hitilafu zilizojificha katika mifumo kama hiyo zinaweza kufichuliwa tu pale mfumo unapotekelezwa na kutumiwa kwa kipindi kirefu na hali zinazofaa zinapojitokeza kwa wakati fulani katika mazingira fulani. Hitilafu ikishachochewa, mfumo utapata kosa litakalousukuma kupotoka kutoka mwenendo wake wa kawaida. Kosa linaweza kusababisha kushindwa kamili kwa mfumo ikiwa halitadhibitiwa na kutengwa kwa wakati unaofaa. Kushindwa kwa mfumo kunaufanya usiweze kutoa kazi zake kuu au kufikia malengo yake.

capitalism is a complex socio-politico-economic system. As in any other system, mechanical or social, failure modes follow certain models. In order to understand the nature of failure or to detect a failure once it occurs, it is very important to understand the model in which failures occur and manifest themselves. One of the most general models used for describing system failures is depicted in figure 2. At the core design of the system, there could be one or more defects or faults. These faults, if detected in the early stages of the system development, are removed and/or fixed. If a fault remains in the system due to oversight by the designers or lack of complete knowledge, it becomes a dormant fault. A dormant fault will not do any harm to the system until it gets excited or provoked by a trigger. A trigger is a certain condition or environment which provokes or excites a certain fault in the system. In physical systems, dormant faults are uncovered and detected through extensive testing which exposes the system to all types of conditions and environments. Unfortunately, social-political-economic systems cannot be tested in a lab! Therefore, dormant faults in such systems can only be exposed when the system is actually implemented and practiced over a long period of time and the proper conditions occur at a given time within a given environment. Once a fault is triggered, the system will experience an error which causes the system to deviate from its normal behavior. An error can lead to complete system failure if not contained and isolated in due time. The failure of the system renders the system unable to provide its main functions or achieve its objectives.

Kama mfano, fikiria udhaifu katika muundo wa basement ya nyumba kuwa ndio kasoro au hitilafu. Udhaifu huo ni mahali ambapo maji mengi kutokana na mvua au mafuriko yanaweza kupenya ndani ya nyumba. Sharti linalosababisha hitilafu hii ni mvua nyingi katika kipindi kifupi cha muda. Mtiririko wa maji kuingia ndani ya nyumba kupitia basement ndio kosa, kwa sababu katika hali ya kawaida maji hayapaswi kuingia ndani ya nyumba. Kosa hili (maji ndani ya nyumba) linaweza kugunduliwa na watu wanaoishi ndani ya nyumba au na kifaa fulani cha ufuatiliaji. Hivyo ndivyo kosa linavyotambuliwa na kutengwa. Ili kudhibiti kosa hilo lisilete uharibifu, pampu ya maji hutumika kuondoa maji ya ziada kutoka basement na kuyasukuma nje. Ikiwa hakuna pampu ya maji, au pampu inashindwa kuanza kufanya kazi kwa sababu fulani, kosa halitadhibitiwa na maji ya mafuriko yataendelea kubaki ndani ya nyumba. Hali hii inaweza kusababisha uharibifu mkubwa, ikiwa ni pamoja na nyumba kuporomoka.

As an example, think of a weak spot in the design of a house basement as the defect or fault. The weak spot is where excessive water due to rain or floods can penetrate the house. The triggering condition for this fault is too much rain in a short period of time. The flow of water into the house through the basement is the error, because in normal circumstances water should not come into the house. This error (water in the house) can be detected by people living in the house or some monitoring device. This is how the error is identified and isolated. To contain the error such that it does not lead to damage, a water pump is used to remove the excess water from the basement and push it outside. If there is no water pump, or the pump fails to kick in for some reason, the error will not be contained and the floodwater persists in the house. This may lead to serious damages, including the collapse of the house.

Mfano huu wa kushindwa ni wa kawaida sana katika maisha yetu. Moyo dhaifu, mishipa ya damu iliyoziba kwa kiasi, mapafu yenye kasoro, au figo zisizo na afya husababisha magonjwa na maumivu ya aina mbalimbali, ambayo yasipotibiwa na kudhibitiwa kwa wakati yanaweza kusababisha kifo. Kasoro za kimitambo katika magari yetu (sehemu zinazovuja, magurudumu yasiyo na uwiano, voltage ya umeme isiyo ya kawaida) zinaweza kusababisha matatizo ya aina mbalimbali katika gari, ambayo yanaweza kuleta uharibifu kamili wa chombo hicho au hata ajali mbaya.

This failure model is very common in our life. A weak heart or partially blocked arteries or defective lungs or unhealthy kidneys cause all types of sicknesses and pains, which if not treated and contained in due time may lead to death. Mechanical defects in our cars (leaky parts, unbalanced wheels, irregular electric voltage) can cause all types of problems in the car which can lead to total damage of the vehicle or even to catastrophic accidents.