Karlene H. Roberts

Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks

We acknowledge with deep gratitude, generous and extensive help with previous versions of this manuscript from Sue Ashford, Michael Cohen, Dan Denison, Jane Dutton, Les Gasser, Joel Kahn, Rod Kramer, Peter Manning, Dave Meader, Debra Meyerson, Walter Nord, Linda Pike, Joe Porac, Bob Quinn, Lance Sandelands, Paul Schaffner, Howard Schwartz, Kathie Sutcliffe, Bob Sutton, Diane Vaughan, Jim Walsh, Rod White, Mayer Zald, and the anonymous reviewers for Administrative Science Quarterly.

Managing High Reliability Organizations

On a worldwide basis, a growing number of organizations operate in ways that can result in catastrophic consequences. Within this set of potentially hazardous organizations, there are a number that have operated nearly error free for long periods of time. This article examines what characterizes their operations and how managers can know whether their organizations are hazardous or potentially hazardous. The article also explores the steps that can be taken to ameliorate the potentially negative effects of design strategies that might result in catastrophic outcomes.

Failures in Upward Communication in Organizations: Three Possible Culprits

The impact of trust in the superior, perceived influence of the superior, and mobility aspirations of subordinates on upward communication behavior was examined. While the importance of trust as a ...

Some correlations of communication roles in organizations.

This paper is part of a large-scale research program concerned with organizational communication. The purpose here is to examine a set of variables possibly associated with the communication roles ...

Research in nearly failure-free, high-reliability organizations: having the bubble

The authors note that high-reliability organizations such as nuclear power plants, air traffic control units, and aircraft carriers pose special challenges to organizational researchers. These organizations, where the consequences of failure can be catastrophic, are made relatively inaccessible to organizational research by their technical complexity and sensitivity to scrutiny. Methods for conductive research in these organizations are explicated along with the consequences of failing to bring organizational knowledge to high-reliability work units. The authors define some major characteristics of high-reliability systems and discuss how they affect research on such organizations. They address issues of entre, problem formulation, data collection, data interpretation, researcher relationships with the organizations, and product presentation. >

Organizational Culture in High Reliability Organizations: An Extension

This paper compares organization culture assessments in two high reliability organizations (HROs) with each other, with similar assessments done in other HROs, and with assessments done in other kinds of organizations. It then assesses the consistency of the culture assessments in the two HROs reported here with the theoretical typology of HROs offered by Schulman, and compares the relationship of culture norms to attitudes and role perceptions found in this research with similar relationships found in the HROs. Finally, the paper provides field data from the two organizations reported on here that support Schulmans model.

Job satisfaction among part-time and full-time employees

Abstract Data were collected from 151 part-time and full-time hospital workers to show that various groups of employees bring to their jobs different frames of reference. They consequently have different expectations and derive different satisfactions from their jobs. Examining satisfaction patterns for various employee groups is the appropriate strategy for understanding job satisfaction.

Risk Mitigation in Large-Scale Systems: Lessons from High Reliability Organizations

This article argues that we should turn our attention from single organizations to systems of organizations if we are to manage in a way that reduces the potential for catastrophic outcomes in organizations. Risk mitigation measures for large-scale systems are derived from research on high reliability organizations (HROs). The article focuses on characteristics similar to both types of systems—which include simultaneous autonomy and interdependence, intended and unintended consequences of behavior, long incubation periods during which problems can arise, and risk migration—and shows how risk mitigation principles that evolved from HRO research can be applied to large-scale systems.

The culture of high reliability: quantitative and qualitative assessment aboard nuclear-powered aircraft carriers

Abstract This investigation explores the culture of two nuclear powered aircraft carriers meeting the criteria for high reliability organizations. In the spirit of “triangulation”, use of a questionnaire-cultural assessment was supplemented with officer/expert interpretations and researcher observations of language manifestations of culture (e.g., stories, phrases), rites and ceremonials. Results indicate a different mix of cultural dimensions in these organizations than are usually found in other organizations and highlights some paradoxes. Future research directions are suggested.

A case of the birth and death of a high reliability healthcare organisation

High reliability organisations (HROs) are those in which errors rarely occur. To accomplish this they conduct relatively error free operations over long periods of time and make consistently good decisions resulting in high quality and reliability. Some organisational processes that characterise HROs are process auditing, implementing appropriate reward systems, avoiding quality degradation, appropriately perceiving that risk exists and developing strategies to deal with it, and command and control. Command and control processes include migrating decision making, redundancy in people or hardware, developing situational awareness, formal rules and procedures, and training. These processes must be tailored to the specific organisation implementing them. These processes were applied to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) where care was derived from problem solving methodology rather than protocol. After a leadership change, the unit returned to the hierarchical medical model of care. Important outcome variables such as infant mortality, patient return to the PICU after discharge, days on the PICU, air transports, degraded. Implications for clinical practice include providing caregivers with sufficient flexibility to meet changing situations, encouraging teamwork, and avoiding shaming, naming, and blaming.