This paper presents the results of a survey which aimed at exploring the perceptions of the employees of a large aviation organization regarding the punitive or preventive character of possible measures that management could take in cases of errors and violations. The analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data collected showed that the viewpoints of the staff were sufficiently aligned only for half of the measures and that all measures inflicting a short- or long-term dissociation of the end-users from their current working place and function were highly unfavourable and linked to castigation. Also, statistically significant differences were observed across groups of specialties and years of service regarding the appropriateness of specific measures especially in the case of errors. The findings of this study in combination with literature references, suggest that the establishment of a just culture structure with agreed lines between the punitive and preventive character of measures and its endorsement by the employees is achievable, but it requires a bottom-up approach and periodical revision. Similar exploratory research, complemented possibly by explanatory studies, is recommended to be carried out by organizations prior or during the development of their just culture policy andrelated measures.
DOCUMENT
This report investigates prior experiences and impacts of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) with the aim of informing preparation plans for Leeuwarden and Fryslân to organize the event in 2018. The longterm benefits that the ECoC tend to be both tangible through improvements in facilities, and intangible as self-confidence and pride increase as the result of celebrating the destination, its culture and history.
DOCUMENT
Abstract Business Process Management (BPM) is an important discipline for organizations to manage their business processes. Research shows that higher BPM-maturity leads to better process performance. However, contextual factors such as culture seem to influence this relationship. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of national culture on the relationship between BPM-maturity and process performance. A multiple linear regression analysis is performed based on data from six different countries within Europe. Although the results show a significant relationship between BPM-maturity and process performance, no significant moderation effect of national culture has been found. The cultural dimension long term orientation shows a weak negative correlation with both BPM-maturity and process performance. Through a post-hoc moderation analysis on each dimension of BPM-maturity, we further find that long term orientation negatively moderates the relationship between process improvement and process performance. Three other moderation effects are also discovered. The results of this study contribute to insights into the role of culture in the field of BPM.
MULTIFILE
Previous investigations of consumer subcultures in the CCT tradition focused primarily on consumer behaviours, feelings, experiences and meanings of consumption. This paper advocates that in order to deeply understand and interpret a particular subculture, researchers in consumer culture should consider more thoroughly the interaction between consumers and producers in consumption markets. This argument is illustrated with a research project on lifestyle sports. From the results of this study it appears that producers play a vital and interdependent role in meaning and interpretation processes. It is argued that processes in which consumers give meaning to activities can not be isolated from the processes in which producers ascribe meanings to activities, settings and markets. In this 'circuit of culture', production and consumption are not completely separate spheres of existence but rather are mutually constitutive of one another (Du Gay, Hall, Janes, Mackay, & Negus, 1997).
DOCUMENT
This article analyses four of the most prominent city discourses and introduces the lens of urban vitalism as an overarching interdisciplinary concept of cities as places of transformation and change. We demonstrate the value of using urban vitalism as a lens to conceptualize and critically discuss different notions on smart, inclusive, resilient and sustainable just cities. Urban vitalism offers a process-based lens which enables us to understand cities as places of transformation and change, with people and other living beings at its core. The aim of the article is to explore how the lens of vitalism can help us understand and connect ongoing interdisciplinary academic debates about urban development and vice versa, and how these ongoing debates inform our understanding of urban vitalism.
DOCUMENT
Reason’s typology of safety culture (i.e. Just, Informative, Learning, Flexible and Reporting cultures) is widely used in the industry and academia. Through literature review we developed a framework including 36 markers that reflect the operationalization of Reason’s sub-cultures and general organizational prerequisites. We used the framework to assess to what extent safety culture development guidelines of seven industry sectors (i.e. aviation, railway, oil and gas, nuclear, healthcare, defense and maritime) incorporate academic references, and are similar to each other. Gap analysis and statistics showed that the guidelines include 53–69 % of the safety culture markers, with significant differences across subcultures and industry sectors. The results suggested that there is a gap between the industry guidelines and literature, as well as variant approaches to safety culture across the industry. The framework suggested in the study might be used as reference for completing existing safety culture development plans and constructing safety culture assessment instruments.
DOCUMENT
Prerequisites (AVAC-SCP) metric was developed to assess whether an organisation plans and implements activities that correspond to prerequisites for fostering a positive safety culture. The metric was designed based on an inclusive theoretical framework stemmed from academic and professional literature and in cooperation with knowledge experts and aviation companies. The goal of the AVAC-SCP is to evaluate three aspects, namely (1) the extent to which the prerequisites are designed/documented, (2) the degree of the prerequisites’ implementation, and (3) the perceptions of the employees regarding the organizational safety culture as a proxy for the effectiveness of the prerequisites’ implementation. The prerequisites have been grouped into six categories (common prerequisites and just, flexible, reporting, information and learning cultures) and the metric concludes with scores per aspect and category. The results from surveys at 16 aviation companies showed that these companies had adequately included most of the Safety Culture Prerequisites (SCP) in their documentation where Just culture plans scored the lowest and Reporting culture plans were found with the highest percentage of planning. The level of SCP implementation was the same high as the organisational plans and quite uniform across the companies and sub-cultures. The perceptions were at the same overall level with implementation, but employees perceived the organisational environment as less fair and more flexible than managers claimed. Although the study described in this report was exploratory and not explanatory, we believe that the results presented in combination with the ones communicated to the participating companies can trigger the latter to investigate further their weaker areas and foster their activities related to Safety Culture Prerequisites. Also, the AVAC-SCP metric is deemed useful to organisations that want to self-assess their SCP levels and proceed to comparisons amongst various functions and levels and/or over time.
DOCUMENT
There has probably never been such an intense debate about the layout of the countryside as the one that is currently raging. There are serious concerns about the landscape, which is being rapidly transformed by urbanization and everything associated with this process, and not only in the Netherlands but also far beyond its borders. Everyone has something to say in this society-wide debate, from local to national governments, from environmental factions to the road-user's lobby, and from those who are professionally involved to concerned private parties. In many cases it is a battle between idealized images and economic models, between agricultural reality and urban park landscapes, between ecological concerns and mobility. This issue of OASE explores the potential significance of architectonic design for transformation processes on the regional scale. Besides considering the instruments that are available to the designer to fulfil this task, the authors also consider how the design can exercise a 'positive' influence on such processes. The various contributions shed light on the potential significance of territory in contemporary design practice and offer critical reflection on the topical discourse that has evolved over recent years.
DOCUMENT
This is the introduction to a special issue on media and transgression, one of early cultural studies’ key terms. It inquires into the uses of transgression as a critical concept to query contemporary media culture which is discussed in six case studies: on political satire, Mukbang, cult drama, the policing of film piracy, media scandals, and online trolls. Transgression points to the energy that fuels the media ecology – from content and content production to audience practices and the policing of content ownership. It is the (conscious) overstepping of moral and legal boundaries, that challenges written and unwritten rules. The frisson of rule breaking and the reward of rule re-establishment (whether by powerful parties or everyday gossip) are transgression’s bookends. Together they support the cyclical rhythm of media culture that maintains not just our interest as viewers but our interests and connectedness as citizens, whether in celebration, outrage or condemnation.
LINK
Diversity implies variety. Diversity refers to the differences between people. Visible aspects – such as age, skin colour, gender, disability – and less or non-visible aspects such as cultural and social background, skills and competencies, and style of working. If you can handle diversity, you will be able to handle different kinds of people. The concept of ‘equality’ can be seen as opposite from the concept of ‘diversity’. Dutch society can be characterized as a culture of equality. Due to increasing diversity it is argued this culture of equality will eventually turn out to be unfavourable. A culture of diversity is reasoned to be an inevitable alternative. A first exploration of the characteristics of such a culture and its significance for the work of the Social Worker is being done at present.
DOCUMENT
