Abstract
We present a new way of structuring data extracted from traditional narratives that have been used to analyze socio-technical system failures (and, indirectly, the failure of some of the organizations that are involved). We demonstrate, using a theoretically grounded scaffolding approach, how this structured organizational modeling addresses emergent properties in enterprises, and how these techniques both provide an approach for dealing with organizational project failures and promote successful organizational transformations. We analyze the open source data to look at organizational and cultural factors that contributed to the failure of the Boeing 737 Max airplane. This case study focuses on the motivations of: a multi-tribal, multi-cultural, multi-sourced, integrator and marketer of complex socio-technical products (i.e., airplanes); regulators responsible for public safety; airlines who offer transportation services with assumptions of risk, liability and loss; and a trusting public that believe they can travel safely and reach their destinations without event. We examine the (sub) cultural and tribal motivational factors that are in conflict. What are the factors that have gone wrong, what assumptions have not been borne out, and what are the lessons learned for anticipating, mitigating, and understanding what to do in the future?
Presenters
Beryl BellmanProfessor Emeritus, Communication Studies, California State University Los Angeles, California, United States Prakash Rao
CEO, Corporate, Enterprise Sherpas LLC, Virginia, United States Ann Reedy
N/A, N/A, Retired but working with a group of researchers and co-authors, Washington, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Value of Culture and the Demand of Change
KEYWORDS
Organizational Culture. Corporate Tribes, Enterprise Perspectives, Failure Analysis, Socio-Technical Systems
