Culture at Work in Aviation and Medicine: National, Organizational and Professional Influences

by Robert L. Helmreich, Ashleigh C. Merritt

Overview

The importance of culture-based attitudes, such as the degree of readiness to challenge, as well as to respect superiors and to assume authority in crimes, has an obvious and direct bearing on team effectiveness, not only in aviation and medical operating theaters, but in all complex industries. The authors investigate and describe a range of cultural attributes, and the consequent impact on the quality of the individual and team performance. National, organizational, and professional cultural influences are all considered in the light of the wealth of results derived from the authors' research in aviation and medical environments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781351946810
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	03/02/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Professor Robert L. Helmreich is Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, USA and Director of the University of Texas Aerospace Crew Research Project. With his colleagues he has conducted research for the US Office of Naval Research, NASA, the FAA and several major airlines around the world, and with University of Basel/Kantonsspital Operating Room Human Factors Project. He served as an officer in the US Navy and gained his PhD at Yale University. Dr Ashleigh C. Merritt earned her PhD in psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, USA and also served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Aerospace Crew Research Project. An Australian by birth and attitude, Ashleigh now works with Jean Pariès safety and human factors consulting group, Dédale, in Paris, France.

Table of Contents

	List of Boxes	viii
	List of Figures	x
	List of Tables	xii
	Foreword	xiii
	Preface	xxv
	Notes on the Contributors	xxvii
1	Groups and Cultures in Aviation and Medicine	1
2	Professional Culture	27
3	National Culture	53
4	Organizational Culture	107
5	Error Management: a Cultural Universal in Aviation and Medicine	133
6	Implementing Error Management: Trust, Data and Interventions	175
7	When Cultures Collide	201
8	Cultural Psychology: a Synthesis	225
Appendix A	Methodological Issues in Cross-cultural Research	233
Appendix B	Data	245
Appendix C	Research Instruments	251
	References	274
	Index	289

Editorial Reviews

Contributors from Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas report the results of research on the crucial influences of culture in the fields of aviation and medicine, focusing primarily on commercial airline pilots, but also on operating room teams. Within these two environments, they show the effects of professional, national, and organizational cultures on individual attitudes, values, and team interaction. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

’In addition to presenting some of the key results of CRM both for aviation and medicine, the authors have used their extensive experience and network of contacts to enrich the text with marvellous anecdotes and case studies...a straightforward style that is a pleasure to read and a complete lack of the usual jargon. The ideas are presented forcefully, documented with scrupulous care, and one can grasp immediately how the concepts in the book might be applied to ongoing aviation operations. The extensions to medicine should intrigue and stimulate also those concerned about human factors and the operations of surgical teams. The quality and variety of the research cited in this work is impressive. A good argument could be made for purchase based on the references alone. This is a book that all those concerned with safety in the operational environment will wish to get and read cover-to-cover.’ Dr Ron Westrum, Eastern Michigan University, USA ’This is an important and timely book...an invaluable insight into the cultures - national, organizational and professional - which affect most of us at work...very well written, referenced and indexed...illuminated with vivid anecdotes and case studies.’ AAvPA Flyer, the newsletter of the Australian Aviation Psychology Association ’The strength in the book lies in the numerous case histories that serve to reinforce key principles. Readers from both the aviation and medical occupations will readily identify with the examples provided and, thus, come to better appreciate the commonality the two disciplines share...this book is recommended reading for human factors researchers and practitioners alike.’ Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine ’...readers with a minimal expertise in either domain should have little difficulty interpreting the research...interesting and informative...the book should be a success.’ Personnel Psychology ’...recommended reading for human factors researchers and practiti

From the Publisher