Organizational Distortions and Failures: A Method to Expose Them
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 132, Issue 1
Abstract
As engineers, we pride ourselves on being problem solvers. The paper, however, defines a class of problems that are serious, pervasive, and largely ignored. These are complex human problems that include widespread distortion of information. A methodology is presented to expose such problems. It draws upon two abilities long practiced by engineers: We learn from experience and draw sketches. Through this methodology, the paper describes how information can be distorted with catastrophic consequences even though the individuals involved are normal and well adjusted people who see their own behaviors as proper and reasonable. Blaming individuals often misperceives such problems. The paper provides an alternative to blame. The methodology has potentially widespread application for the study of accidents, failures, and environmental degradation.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This paper is based on a report prepared for a seminar at Oregon State University. The report, “Faith, Responsibility, & Knowledge”, September 2001, by David A. Bella, is posted at ⟨http://www.humboldt.edu/~storage/pdfmill/⟩. Acknowledgment is also given to the many colleagues, including former students, who shared ideas and stories with me over many years.
References
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). (2004). “Code of Ethics.” ⟨www.asce.org/inside/codeofethics.cfm⟩.
Bea, R. G. (1996). “Quantitative and qualitative risk analysis: The safety of offshore platforms.” Offshore Technology Conf. OTC 837, Houston.
Bella, D. A. (1987). “Organizations and systematic distortion of information.” J. Prof. Issues Eng., 113(4), 360–370.
Bella, D. A. (1996). “The pressures of organizations and the responsibilities of professors.” BioScience, 46(10), 772–778.
Bella, D. A. (1997). “Organized complexity in human affairs: The tobacco industry.” Journal of Business Ethics, 16, 977–999.
Bella, D. A. (2003). “Plug and chug, cram and flush.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 129(1), 32–39.
Biondi, E. L. (1998). “Organizational factors in the reliability assessment of offshore systems.” Ms thesis of Ocean Engineering, Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, Ore.
Cone, J. (1995). A common fate: Endangered salmon and the people of the pacific northwest, Holt, New York.
Eisenhower, D. D. (1961). “Farewell radio and television address to the American people.” Public papers of the presidents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1035–1040.
Hites, R. A., Foran, J. A., Carpender, D. O., Hamilton, C., Knuth, B. A., and Schwager, S. J. (2004). “Global assessment of organic contaminants in farmed salmon,” Science, 303, 226–229.
Holland, J. H. (1998). Emergence: From chaos to order, Perseus, Reading, Mass.
Larson, E., and King, J. (1996). “The systemic distortion of information: An ongoing challenge to management.” Organizational Dynamics, 24(3), 49–61.
Petroski, H. (1992). To engineer is human, Vintage, New York.
Report of the Columbia accident investigation board. (2003). U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Report of the presidential commission on the space shuttle Challenger accident. (1986). U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Strogatz, S. H. (1994). Nonlinear dynamics and chaos, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass.
Vaughan, D. (1999). The Challenger launch decision, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Vaughan, D. (1999). “The dark side of organizations: Mistake, misconduct, and disaster.” Annu. Rev. Sociol., 25, 271–305.
Waldrop, M. M. (1992). Complexity, Simon & Schuster, New York.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 132 • Issue 1 • January 2006
Pages: 18 - 23
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 6, 2003
Accepted: Nov 9, 2004
Published online: Jan 1, 2006
Published in print: Jan 2006
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.