A few extracts from Kühl’s interesting book called ‘Influencing Organizational Culture’. It takes more of a deep, analytical and critical lens to ‘conventional’ cultural approaches. Extracts: · Kühl proposes that “to better understand the culture of an organization, we have to systematically distinguish between the three sides of an organization” · The formal side covers the “official… Continue reading The three sides of organisations to understand culture: formal, informal, display
Tag: organizational culture
‘Organisational safety culture principles’: In Patient safety culture
Some extracts from Guldenmund’s interesting article ‘Organisational safety culture principles’: · Culture can be studied via different aggregated levels, with many authors relating it as “consisting of a core surrounded by one or more layers, not unlike the anatomy of an onion” · “Whereas the core is something (deeply) hidden, the culture projects itself gradually through and… Continue reading ‘Organisational safety culture principles’: In Patient safety culture
Compendium: Cultural approaches to safety / Safety Culture / Safety Climate / Org Culture
It’s no secret that I’m relatively cautious of ‘Safety Culture’. (** At least, I fall more into the interpretative, than functionalist, camp). Nevertheless, I get the question of evidence often, so here it is. A compendium of studies focused on organisational culture, culture of safety, safety culture and safety climate. Because there’s so many studies… Continue reading Compendium: Cultural approaches to safety / Safety Culture / Safety Climate / Org Culture
Counteracting the Cultural Causes of Disaster
This 1999 article from Andrew Hopkins talks about the cultural factors that helped to incubate the 1994 Moura mine disaster in Australia. He starts by saying that Turner’s work demonstrated that “all socio-technical disasters involve an information or communication failure of some kind, in that they are preceded by a series of `discrepant events’ which… Continue reading Counteracting the Cultural Causes of Disaster
Organizational structure and safety culture: Conceptual and practical challenges
Organizational structure and safety culture: Conceptual and practical challenges A banger read (as Schulman’s work often is) exploring some links and challenges about safety culture and organising/structuring for culture. Not a summary as I can’t do it justice, so just read the paper (full link below). This comes from an upcoming mini-compendium on safety culture… Continue reading Organizational structure and safety culture: Conceptual and practical challenges
Studying organisational cultures and their effects on safety
Hopkins in this discussion paper explores organisational cultures, and how they effect safety. You’ll note he writes cultures, plural, rather than culture as a monolithic construct. Way too much to cover in this paper, so just a few points. Check out the full paper if the topic interests you. Hopkins starts with “Despite all that… Continue reading Studying organisational cultures and their effects on safety
Mini-Compendium: Psychological Safety
Given the prominence of Psychological Safety (PS), it’s worth sharing some research. It’s likely among the most studied modern concepts in organisational theory – so I can barely scratch the surface. Focus first is articles I’ve summarised, and then on any other full-text items I can find. In my haste, I’ve probably included some psychological… Continue reading Mini-Compendium: Psychological Safety
Safety Culture or: How cultures can both sensitise or blind us to danger
I’ve long been critical of the construct, and application of, ‘safety culture’ (at best, I’d probably be described as from the interpretive camp—e.g. ‘culture-as-metaphor’). I’ve covered lots of articles why – and others have argued far more nuanced reasons. So, I’m not covering that now. But in saying that, I’ve always found the following definition… Continue reading Safety Culture or: How cultures can both sensitise or blind us to danger
Why regulators Should Stay away from Safety Culture and Stick to Rules Instead
This banger chapter comes from an equally slapping book ‘Trapping Safety into Rules’. The authors argue why “regulators should stay away from safety culture”. Too much to cover, so just a few points. They open with “Ever since the Chernobyl catastrophe, safety culture has been invoked as a crucial discriminator between good and bad ways… Continue reading Why regulators Should Stay away from Safety Culture and Stick to Rules Instead
The Use and Abuse of “Culture”
This well-known paper from Hopkins (found in several forms, book chapters, articles, presentations) critically challenges some core assumptions of safety culture. In short, directly quoting the paper: (1) Culture is a characteristic of a group, not an individual, and talk of culture must always specify the relevant group (2) Organisations have it within their power… Continue reading The Use and Abuse of “Culture”
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