Annotated Bibliographies

Workforce Perceptions of Hospital Safety Culture: Development and Validation of the Patient Safety Climate in Healthcare Organizations Survey

Published on by Jared Padgett

This article discussed the development and testing of the Patient Safety Climate in Healthcare Organizations (PSCHO) survey, which has been used to determine the safety culture in hospitals both in the United States and abroad.

The study utilized HRO concepts and applied them specifically to healthcare, and this instrument will be a valuable tool for researcher’s interested in improving patient safety. The multivariate analysis in the study outlined specific results based on the participants’ organizational role, and this will transfer well to other healthcare organizations.

Singer, S., Meterko, M., Baker, L., Gaba, D., Falwell, A., & Rosen, A. (2007). Workforce perceptions of hospital safety culture: Development and validation of the patient safety climate in healthcare organizations survey. Health Services Research, 42(5), 1999-2021. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2007.00706.x

Overcoming Dysfunctional Momentum: Organizational Safety as a Social Achievement

Published on by Jared Padgett

This quantitative study included participants from the field of firefighting, specifically in wildfire fighting. While recognizing that wildfire management involves various industries and managers that do not physically fight the fires, the study focused specifically on those who come in contact with fires.

Using some of the theory behind HROs, the authors sought to understand the process involved in fighting fires, and the application of these methods in other industries. I intend to utilize results from other industries to support application of HRO theory in healthcare. This study provides a useful example of applying HRO theory across different fields.

Barton, M. A., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2009). Overcoming dysfunctional momentum: Organizational safety as a social achievement. Human Relations, 62(9), 1327-1356. doi:10.1177/0018726709334491

Taking Personal Change Seriously: The Impact of Organizational Learning on Management Practice

Published on by Jared Padgett

 To detect an error is to acknowledge incompetence. Doing so publicly in a work setting is often seen as ‘career limiting,’ discouragement enough even if it wasn’t also personally threatening.

This article is a review of the impact the book, Organizational Learning, has had on management practice since its publication. Though there are flaws in the traditional approach to doing business in high-risk fields, the concept of a learning organization has appeal to both managers and academics.

The author discusses the effect of personal change on an organization. Until a manager is willing to change personally, any change attempted within the organization will be limited. A manager should be willing to admit mistakes, and should expect subordinates to do the same, without fear of retaliation or loss of esteem or status. This contributes to a learning culture, where people can learn from failures to prevent future incidents.

HRO principles and the concept of learning cultures are compatible. A true learning culture is hard to achieve, as it typically involves admitting inadequacies or failure. We are trained from an early age how to shift blame, and avoid punishment for failures. Learning organizations and HROs try to learn from mistakes, and do not assign blame for systemic failure. Assigning blame lowers the participation, and ultimately contributes to additional failure.

Senge, P. M. (2003). Taking personal change seriously: The impact of organizational learning on management practice. Academy of Management Executive, 17(2), 47-50. doi:10.5465/AME.2003.10025191

Innovation in Organizations from a Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective

Published on by Jared Padgett

In this article, organizations were described as being composed of people who undergo growth through individual innovation and self organization. An individual belongs to a number of larger, more complex groups, ranging from the immediate team in a department to the corporation or business entity as a whole, then ultimately society as a whole. Though the individual’s role changes in each of these complex layers, the underlying identity stays the same. The individual’s actions affect the whole organization, though the individual may be one person out of thousands of employees.

Organizations are complex systems, and each individual provides a unique opportunity for success or failure of the larger unit.

This article discusses organizational learning and development. The article shares similar concepts with Stacey (2007), who discussed the connection between organizational learning and chaos theory.

Carlisle, Y., & McMillan, E. (2006). Innovation in organizations from a complex adaptive systems perspective. Emergence: Complexity and Organization, 8(1), 2–9. Retrieved from http://pepperdine.worldcat.org/oclc/173607996

Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics: The Challenge of Complexity

Published on by Jared Padgett

The author discussed the connection between chaos theory and organizational dynamics, and asserted that complexity theory has its roots at least in part in scientific chaos theory. The author looked at convection theory and discussed the change in the environment in a pot of water as it is placed over heat. When equilibrium is no longer achieved, the system undergoes change. In the end, the transformed water molecules still contain the basic properties of water, even after undergoing radical change. Change management and organizational learning are part of HRO theory. This study and other studies on chaos theory might contribute a scientific authority to the management aspect of HRO.

Stacey, R., (2007). Strategic management and organisational dynamics: The challenge of complexity. (5th ed.) England: Pearson Education Limited.