This study supports, that culture influences the relationship between organizational change and human failure. An analysis of global large loss events shows, that more than half of all losses can be backtracked to a human failure. A closer look at the organizational background of these human failure losses indicates additionally, that two thirds of them occurred after or during organizational changes of the employer.
Because human performance is also dependent on cultural factors, this thesis investigates whether the established relationship between organizational changes and human failure features a cultural pattern of occurrence as well. In order to render an acceptable degree of comparison, the loss events are aligned on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity and long-term orientation.
This study concludes, that a society’s uncertainty avoidance and its individualism are related to the occurrence of large human failure loss events. While a society’s high uncertainty avoidance is negatively correlated, a society’s high individualism is positively correlated with human failures.
It is further proposed, that a large power distance often prevents a workforce from committing human failures when their organization is changing. Trust in the vertical hierarchy gives them security. On the other side, high individualism aggravates human failures during organizational changes. The employees know that they are on their own, and that they have nobody to rely upon in insecure times.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. THE FRAMEWORK OF THE FIRST STUDY
1.2. THE FRAMEWORK OF THE SECOND STUDY
1.3. THE SHAPE OF THE THESIS
2. THE THREE ELEMENTS OF THE STUDY
2.1. HUMAN FAILURE
Error
Mistake
Violation
2.2. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Organization
Organizational Change
2.3. CULTURE
National Culture
Culture and Organizations
3. METHODS
3.1. GLOBAL LOSS EVENT DATABASE
3.2. HUMAN FACTOR DATABASE
Cause of Event
Organizational Changes
3.3. ANALYZING CULTURE – EXISTING MEASUREMENTS AND THEIR ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck’s Cultural Orientations
Laurent’s Cultural Diversity of Western Conceptions of Management
Hall’s Compass Model
3.4. HOFSTEDE’S CULTURE DIMENSIONS
Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
Individualism – Collectivism
Masculinity – Femininity
Long-term orientation – Short-term orientation
Discussion
Replication and Validation
3.5. STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY
Correlation
Chi-Square Analysis
t-Test
4. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
4.1. HUMAN FAILURE
4.2. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE - HUMAN FAILURE
4.3. NATIONAL CULTURE – ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE – HUMAN FAILURE
5. CONCLUSION
Human Failure
Organizational Change – Human Failure
National Culture – Organizational Change – Human Failure
6. OUTLOOK
Research Objectives and Key Topics
The primary objective of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between organizational changes, human failure, and the influence of national culture. The central research question seeks to determine whether the link between organizational restructuring and human performance follows a identifiable geographic and cultural pattern of occurrence.
- The role of organizational change in triggering human failure in man-machine systems.
- Categorization of human failures into errors, mistakes, and violations based on James Reason’s framework.
- Application of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to assess how societal values influence human performance during corporate transitions.
- Statistical correlation between institutional organizational change and the frequency and severity of large-scale loss events.
Excerpt from the Book
Organizational Change
In 1964, Bob Dylan put it into words and sang it out to the audience, that the times they are a-changing. In doing so, he showed, that the demanded and dearly longed-for change of the social order but also the way of thinking at that time, had many faces. Thus, change is a widely spread term for describing a discrepancy between a given past-situation and an actual present-situation in time, and is used in a multitude of very different contexts: it shows up in every day’s speech as well as in debates during presidential elections. If organizations are regarded as open systems, it is possible, that changes of conditions in its environment can have effects on the organizations set-up, making a sudden emergence of changes within the organization likely (Senior & Fleming, 1997). In this study, though, organizations are considered as closed systems, and as a consequence of this, changes within an organization are thought to be planned rather than just happening. Another possibility, not followed in this thesis, would be to analyze organizations embedded in a significantly changing environment. This implies, that organizational changes have to be seen as systemic, rather than isolated (Wischnevsky, 2004). In contrast, this study assumes, that in organizations change is caused with intent, creating a condition that did not already exist (Ford & Ford, 1995). Hence, the theoretical construct of organizational change is based on Lewin’s (1951) concept of change process, where he defines change as proceeding in three phases of unfreezing, moving and refreezing.
According to this model, an organization carrying through organizational changes, first has to disturb the status quo by unfreezing habitual ways of thinking and behavior of its employees. This phase might include laying off that part of the workforce that holds on to maintain the usual situation, and strengthening the other part that welcomes the announced change. In the second stage of this model, the organization gets to the point to actually conduct the intended changes, so that it can be moved to the new situation.
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: Outlines the research problem concerning organizational changes and human performance, setting the foundation for a two-stage study involving database analysis.
2. THE THREE ELEMENTS OF THE STUDY: Provides theoretical definitions and frameworks for human failure (error, mistake, violation), organizational change, and the role of national culture.
3. METHODS: Describes the construction of the loss event database, the operationalization of macro factors for change, and the selection of Hofstede’s dimensions for cultural analysis.
4. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS: Presents empirical findings linking specific types of organizational changes to human failure incidents and evaluates the impact of cultural variables using statistical correlations.
5. CONCLUSION: Summarizes key research findings, confirming the association between organizational instability and human failure, while acknowledging the limitations of data granularity.
6. OUTLOOK: Suggests future research directions, emphasizing the need for better management of change in high-hazard industries and the integration of cultural variables in organizational safety.
Keywords
Human Failure, Organizational Change, National Culture, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, Large Loss Events, Man-Machine Systems, Error, Mistake, Violation, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism, Power Distance, Risk Management, Economic Geography, Statistical Correlation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this research?
The research examines the relationship between organizational change and human failure in the workplace, specifically analyzing how national culture influences this interaction during large loss events.
What are the central themes of the work?
The central themes include the categorization of unsafe human acts, the systemic impact of organizational change on workforce behavior, and the cross-cultural psychological factors that modulate organizational responses to transition.
What is the primary goal of the study?
The goal is to determine if there is a statistically significant, geographically identifiable pattern of occurrence between organizational restructuring and subsequent human failure in large corporations.
Which methodology is employed?
The study uses a quantitative approach by establishing a secondary human factor database, applying text analysis to 500 large loss events, and using statistical tools like phi coefficients and chi-square analysis to evaluate correlations.
What does the main body of the work address?
The main body focuses on defining the theoretical pillars (Human Failure, Organizational Change, Culture), detailing the methodology of data extraction from Swiss Re databases, and presenting extensive statistical analyses of results.
Which keywords best describe this study?
The key concepts include human factor research, organizational change management, cross-cultural psychology, Hofstede's cultural dimensions, and large loss event analysis.
How is human failure categorized in this thesis?
Human failure is categorized into three distinct types: errors (unintended), mistakes (failures of judgment), and violations (intentional deviations), based largely on the work of James Reason.
What is the significance of the "Power Distance" dimension in this study?
High power distance is proposed to potentially offer a buffer for employees during organizational changes, as subordinates may trust in the paternalistic "good father" role of superior leadership, leading to a more stable workforce behavior despite organizational upheaval.
- Quote paper
- Lars Mellert (Author), 2009, Human Failure, Organizational Change & Culture, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/206881
