CERES :: Browsing by Author "Pilbeam, Colin"

Browsing by Author "Pilbeam, Colin"

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Open Access
Business process resource networks: a multi-theoretical study of continuous organisational transformation
(Cranfield University, 2016-04) Stebbings, H.; Denyer, David; Pilbeam, Colin; Braganza, Ashley
Drawing on multiple theoretical lenses, this research studies continuous transformation, or ‘morphing’, of a business process resource network (BPRN). The aim is to further our understanding of continuous organisational change at the lowest levels of analysis within an organisation: that is, at the resource level, and that resource’s relationships to other resources as they exist within a BPRN. Data was gathered from a single, in depth case study. Analysis was achieved by means of mapping BPRN evolution using ‘temporal bracketing’, ‘visual’ and ‘narrative’ approaches (Langley, 1999). The analysis revealed two mechanisms that appear to govern microstate morphing: bond strength and stakeholder expectation. In addition, four factors emerged as important: environmental turbulence, timing and timeliness of changes, concurrency of changes, and enduring business logic. An emergent model of microstate morphing which acknowledges the importance of socio-materiality in actor network morphogenesis (ANM) is presented. This study shows how effective relationships and configuration of resources within the BPRN can be achieved to facilitate timely, purposeful morphing. Five propositions are offered from the emergent ANM model. Specifically, these relate to the conditional operating parameters and the identified generative mechanisms for continuous organisational transformation within the BPRN. Implications for practice are significant. A heuristic discussion guide containing a series of questions framed around the ANM model to highlight the challenges of microstate morphing for practitioners is proposed. Two routes for future research are suggested: replication studies, and quantifying BPRN change in relation to an organisation’s environment using a ii survey instrument and inferential statistical analysis based on the ANM model features and propositions.
Open Access
Chapter 8: Boundaries: Their Influence on Managing Safety in Outsourcing
(Springer, 2023-10-19) Pilbeam, Colin
Boundaries are an essential feature of an organization and integral to the on-going process of organizing. Outsourcing not only disrupts the configuration of organizational boundaries but also compounds the safety management challenges faced by an organization. This chapter connects these two observations through an examination of the composite nature of the organizational boundary. Misalignment between organizations in one or more of the three clusters of processes (physical, mental or social) that comprise the boundary create differences which may contribute to the safety management challenges commonly experienced in outsourcing. Boundary spanning skills that manage these processes are vital for successful working relationships between organizations but are rarely taught in safety training.
Open Access
Circumstances and paths of change and stability in knowledge network
(Cranfield University, 2012-09) Basile, C.; Pilbeam, Colin
To cast light on the impact of knowledge on economic growth, performance and innovation is a highly sought-after research endeavour that keeps triggering interest across different disciplines. This in turn calls for the need to explain how processes of knowledge creation, transfer and use occur. A fast-growing body of research argues that the characteristics of social relationships and the network they constitute may provide a better understanding of knowledge processes. However, the great majority of empirical works in the field has concentrated on static analysis, addressing the effect that structural and relational properties of social networks exert over knowledge outcomes In this work I aim to extend the current understanding on knowledge network research by conducting a systematic review of longitudinal knowledge network research. I believe that it is by looking at longitudinal empirical investigation that we can get a grasp of dynamic processes such as those related to knowledge. I propose therefore a framework to organize knowledge network research, highlighting points of conflicts and coherence across different levels of analysis, network elements and constructs adopted. Emerging themes and future areas of research are explored.
Open Access
Conducting a practice-based study in a novel context: Methodological challenges
(British Academy of Management, 2017-09-07) Bond, Angela; Pilbeam, Colin; Turner, Neil
The methodological issue addressed in this paper is how to conduct a practice-based study in a novel context. We present and build on Korica, Nicolini and Johnson's (2015) proposal to explore managerial work from a practice perspective, and to understand the implications of temporary organisation for management practice (Bakker et al., 2016). We present an argument for using Schatzki’s (2002) site ontology and summarise the key features that are relevant to, and being applied in, a current empirical study. Using the study as an illustration we discuss the methodological implications of a practice-based study and conclude with recommendations for research.
Open Access
Designing safer working interventions through a literature review using a mechanisms-based approach
(Elsevier, 2019-07-20) Pilbeam, Colin; Denyer, David; Doherty, Noeleen; Davidson, Ross
The explanation for what safety interventions work in any particular circumstance remains elusive, resulting in many work-related fatalities and injuries every year. We propose a shift in perspective from a preoccupation with safety interventions and their effects to an elucidation of the generative mechanisms underpinning safety and its contiguous context. Using an analytical framework based on contexts, interventions, mechanisms and outcomes (CIMO) we were able to review 43 empirical studies of safety interventions deployed by leaders in organizations. This motivated the development of 10 design propositions; 5 related to accident and injury reduction and 5 to changing safety behaviours. Greater understanding of the mechanisms by which interventions exert their effects will lead to the design of more context appropriate safety interventions thereby enhancing individual and organizational safety in the future and the development of evidence-based safety.
Open Access
Designing safety interventions for specific contexts
(Lloyd’s Register Foundation, 2022-04-30) Pilbeam, Colin; Karanikas, Nektarios; Steinmann, Fabian; Baker, Philip; Khan, Shanchita
Executive Summary Workplace health and safety (H&S) is a significant global issue; around 500 million people are adversely affected by work-related injuries and illnesses each year, while the number of daily workplace fatalities runs into the thousands. One explanation for these alarming statistics may lie in the way safety interventions are introduced and implemented in different contexts. A ‘safety intervention’ could be any physical artefact, process, procedure, skills, or specialist knowledge that restores, maintains, or strengthens safety (i.e., prevents or mitigates safety risks; influences culture and behaviours; improves health and wellbeing; ensures compliance with legal requirements). Misalignment between interventions and context increases the possibility of failure with adverse consequences. Where interventions ‘fit’ the context safety performance is high. There is a clear requirement to minimise harm and maximise worker well-being in the workplace, a change that can be driven by the implementation of context-appropriate safety interventions. However, the degree to which organisations and occupational H&S researchers, and trainers contemplate contextualisation processes, and the variables that influence these processes, when sourcing, designing and implementing safety interventions is unclear and may account for the lack of success observed for some interventions. In this report we attempt to address this knowledge gap and present the findings of our investigation into whether and how researchers, trainers, and organisations consider contextual factors in safety interventions. The study comprised of three broad strands. Firstly, a comprehensive Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) reviewed scholarly work published in peer-reviewed journals between 2011 and 2021; from an initial sample of 3,450 studies, 73 studies were included in the final review. Secondly, a screen of nationally and internationally recognised training materials, coupled with 12 semi-structured interviews with experienced trainers, was performed to determine how frequently safety courses considered context. Finally, further interviews with industry stakeholders were performed to identify both successful and unsuccessful interventions and to ascertain if context was a factor in outcomes. We identified that training and education was the most frequently applied intervention, and training providers confirm that they believe appropriate consideration of context would increase the effectiveness of interventions. However, it was also clear that few courses consider the influence of context on the interventions or describe a framework whereby such contextualisation could occur. For example, interventions are often ‘borrowed’ from other organisations and are not adjusted to meet the specific needs of the new environment. This, coupled with the observation of a widespread failure of organisations to review the impact of their safety training in a continuous fashion and update and improve its implementation, suggests that there is a need for organisational level adjustments. We, therefore, suggest that the following five recommendations are developed to improve the training of workplace H&S, and thus its implementation: 1. Organisations should begin considering the context of interventions as much as the intervention itself during implementation. This process can be assisted via the development of the processes detailed below. 2. Organisations, occupational safety and health (OSH) training providers, OSH institutions and agencies, and academia should develop guidelines that indicate key success factors (KSFs) for safety training effectiveness within the organisational context, and how these 3 KSFs can be achieved. These would consider organisational characteristics, trainee demographics and features of the intervention. 3. Organisations, OSH training providers, OSH institutions and agencies, and academia should develop guidelines for designing online safety training materials that consider context. This should consider aesthetics, usability and usefulness drawing on existing knowledge of technology acceptance. 4. Organisations, OSH training providers, OSH institutions and agencies, and academia should develop guidelines to produce immersive, interactive, digital content for contextually relevant safety training materials to meet growing demand. 5. OSH training providers, OSH institutions and agencies and OSH regulators should promote the need to review the benefits of safety training after the event and to review current understanding before re-training. In addition, the field would benefit from further research to better describe methodologies and frameworks that will allow for efficient contextualisation of H&S interventions across a wide range of industries. These have been specified in a further set of 11 recommendations.
Open Access
Designing safety interventions for specific contexts: results from a literature review
(Elsevier, 2022-08-24) Karanikas, Nektarios; Khan, Shanchita R.; Baker, Philip R. A.; Pilbeam, Colin
A misalignment between safety interventions and the workplace context of their application could lead to diminished effectiveness or failure. This paper is the first of three of an umbrella study that aimed to understand whether and how researchers and organisations consider contextual factors in safety interventions. Through Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) process, we searched and selected scholarly work indexed in the bibliographic databases Medline, APA PsycArticles, Web of Science and Scopus between January 2011 and June 2021. The studies were analysed using a framework developed according to translation theory about (de)contextualisation of knowledge. The framework was enriched to consider psychosocial factors at the organisational level and physical, cognitive and emotional factors of the interventions’ recipients. We identified 73 eligible studies, of which 47 described safety interventions that had not been deployed in workplaces (e.g., pilot studies and concepts) and 26 studies referred to those deployed. No study considered all factors of the framework. Communication and support from management and colleagues were the most considered psychosocial factors, whereas conflicting demands and job security were the least considered. Moreover, cognitive factors of workers were mentioned in 77% of the sample, with only one study considering inclusively cognitive, emotional and physical factors of recipients. About 62% of the implemented interventions were functional (e.g., training, education and communication-related interventions), with only four studies reporting physical interventions. Also, most of the interventions were sourced from the literature and introduced as ‘new practice’ at the targeted workplaces, with only one article reporting a failed intervention. Overall, the findings of this research indicated that intervention studies did not visibly follow a translation-transformation path between sources and recipients, did not systematically consider contextual factors at the workplaces targeted, and all interventions represented administrative controls, contrary to the widely accepted principle of the hierarchy of controls.
Open Access
Differences in perception of the importance of process safety indicators between experts in Iran and the West
(Elsevier, 2022-11-10) Omidi, Leila; Dolatabad, Khadijeh Mostafaee; Pilbeam, Colin
Introduction: The importance of safety in high-risk industries such as oil and gas facilities has been reported previously. Process safety performance indicators can provide insight into improving the safety of process industries. This paper aims to rank the process safety indicators (metrics) by Fuzzy Best-Worst Method (FBWM) using the data gathered through a survey. Method: The study uses a structured approach considering the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), and the IOGP (International Association of Oil and Gas Producers) recommendations and guidelines to generate an aggregate set of indicators. It calculates the level of importance of each indicator based on the opinions of experts from Iran and some Western countries. Results: The findings of the study demonstrate that some lagging indicators such as the number of times processes do not proceed as planned due to insufficient staff competence and the number of unexpected disruptions of the process due to failure in instrumentation and alarms are important in process industries in both Iran and Western countries. Western experts identified process safety incident severity rate as an important lagging indicator, whereas Iranian experts considered this as relatively unimportant. In addition, leading indicators such as sufficient process safety training and competency, the desired function of instrumentation and alarms, and proper management of fatigue risk play an important role in enhancing the safety performance of process industries. Experts in Iran viewed permit to work as an important leading indicator, while experts in the West focused on fatigue risk management. Practical Applications: The methodology used in the current study gives a good view to managers and safety professionals in regard to the most important indicators of process safety and allows them to focus more on important process safety indicators.
Open Access
Drifting away of actions from prescribed procedures
(Cranfield University, 2023-10) Tewari, Neha; Denyer, David; Pilbeam, Colin
This research examines a particular kind of routine change where a decoupling of actions from the prescribed procedures is consciously and mindfully introduced to benefit the organisation and to make work easier, locally efficient, and more effective. I draw on Snook’s (2002) conceptualisation of practical drift to define my phenomenon. When procedural demands do not fit the practical or situational demands, people adjust or alter the recommended procedures, routines, and workflows to better fit the local needs. This research uses a case-based inquiry to examine 197 cases of drift happening within large multinational organisations from the Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, and Aerospace sectors to theories of why ‘Practical drift’ happens and what the impact of this on safety. Using a mixed-method data collection technique of Repertory Grids (RepGrid), 31 middle and senior managers were interviewed. It resulted in 262 RepGrid ‘Constructs’ related to the events of drift. The data was firstly analysed qualitatively using a bootstrapping generic content analysis technique that pools construct into meaningful higher-order categories. Two quantitative analyses followed this: a RepGrid-specific statistical analysis, called the Average Normalised Variance (ANV), to identify key constructs and a Boolean minimisation-based Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to identify factor combinations associated with safety negative outcomes. This research finds that drifted actions happen because actors have an operational objective or ‘Purpose’ that triggers drift. Secondly, there exist some contextual conditions that facilitate replacing a recommended procedure with an alternate action. Safety findings reveal that some factors like ‘Risk awareness’ and ‘Local decision flexibility’ are more likely to deliver safety negative outcomes. In contrast, the factor ‘save time’ was found to be correlated to safety positive outcomes. Building on these findings, I propose three theoretical models. First is a factor model that identifies a set of factors causing drift. These factors are ordered by their relative influence, extending our understanding of the purpose and contextual conditions associated with drift. The second and third models link factors from the first model to different safety outcomes. These models add to the extant literature on practical drift and routine change by identifying (i) factors that link to safety positive, neutral and negative outcomes and (ii) the combination of key factors having more potency to deliver safety negative outcomes. The relevance of these findings for practice is that the research raises the issue of drift being an operational reality and motivates the organisations to address the drift causing factors. Furthermore, this study paves the pathway for future studies to establish causal relationships among the configuration of constructs discovered in this research.
Open Access
Dynamic, inter-subsidiary relationships of competition and collaboration
(Cranfield University, 2015-03) Chambers, Morgan; Pilbeam, Colin
Horizontal relationships between subsidiaries within an MNC are rarely shown on an organisation chart but the interactions along this dimension are critical to the achievement of an MNC’s global operations and strategic activities. Different interaction logics of social relationships and economic exchanges in horizontal relationships induce simultaneous competition and collaboration between the subsidiaries. Collaboration and competition is a business reality in inter-subsidiary relationships as they collaborate to share resources and knowledge, but ultimately compete for resources, customers and profits. While much research has focused on the effects of internal collaboration, and to a lesser extent internal competition, on organisational performance, little is known about the antecedents of competition and collaboration and the interplay of simultaneously occurring interactions. By focusing on one or the other, any understanding of the inherent tensions between the two is overlooked. This research explores the coopetitive nature of the inter-subsidiary relationship using a qualitative approach within three MNCs, where internal competition and collaboration are more salient. Data were gathered from 98 semi-structured interviews with top and senior management, top management focus groups and a body of secondary data including internal reports, policy documents and external publications, among others, has been referenced. The study makes three key contributions. First, by extending Luo’s (2005) theoretical model of intra-MNE coopetition, the study identifies additional respective antecedents of competition and collaboration. Second, the study locates inherent tensions arising from inter-subsidiary coopetition and explicates how the tensions are managed by the HQ and subsidiaries using spatial, balancing and assessing mechanisms and specific interventions. Third, the study offers an empirically-based model of inter-subsidiary coopetition with a more dynamic and temporal set of multiple relationships among the subsidiaries within the MNCs. Management implications include that senior management teams be aware of the opportunities and constraints of promoting a culture of collaboration while simultaneously fostering inter-subsidiary competition through internal accounting policies and incentive systems, and that the capability of senior managers to work effectively within dual organisational structures be developed and incorporated into executive development programmes.
Open Access
The effect of an embargo, sanctions and culture on safety climate: A qualitative view from aviation maintenance in the MENA region
(Elsevier, 2022-03-17) Ben-Saed, Mohamed; Pilbeam, Colin
Introduction: Safety climate assessment is a key measure of organizational safety. A strong safety climate is integral to the high safety performance in aviation. Most survey instruments that purport to measure safety climate are derived from evidence obtained in developed countries in the west. It is rare for these studies to examine the influence of macro-environmental factors on safety climate, and rarer still in countries found in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Method: The researchers conducted 28 semi-structured interviews with experienced aviation maintenance engineers from a national carrier in the region. The interview questions were derived from an extensive review of existing studies of safety climate. Data from interview transcripts were coded, creating a data structure using participant quotes for 1st order codes and arriving at three aggregate dimensions: organizational commitment to safety, organizational safety practices and social relationships and their consequences. Results: Commercial considerations influenced negatively organizational commitment to safety. Organizational safety practices were weak. There was a lack of safety training, a lack of resources to support safe working, poor safety communication, and a failure to report safety issues. Strong friendships were developed through working together in teams. This adversely influenced the reporting of errors and the punishment of violations. Discussion and conclusion: The apparently weak organizational safety climate reported here was attributed to financial constraints following the imposition of economic sanctions and embargos, and to the influence of Arabic cultural values that privilege family connections and the importance of maintaining harmony in social relationships that precludes punishment. Practical application: Financial constraints inevitably limit resources for safety and encourage prioritization of production. Arabic cultural values inhibit the development of a ‘just’ culture and a ‘reporting’ culture and challenge the universal adoption of approaches for promoting organizational safety developed in the West.
Open Access
Effective transfer of safety interventions within and between organizations: Leveraging translation theory to achieve improved outcomes
(Elsevier, 2023-09-21) Pilbeam, Colin; Karanikas, Nektarios
Safety interventions are often ‘borrowed’ from one organizational setting, where they have worked successfully, to another organizational setting but not necessarily with the same positive outcomes. Translation theory could offer potential insights into the processes through which managers translate safety practices either from one organization to another or from one part to another part of the same organization. To examine this possibility, this study used the framework method of analysis, underpinned by a conceptual framework developed from translation theory, to analyse qualitative data from interviews with experienced managers having responsibility for safety in their organization who shared narratives of eight different safety interventions deployed in a variety of industry sectors ranging from oil and gas to retail from around the world. By inference from the data, analysis shows that interventions of low complexity, low embeddedness and high explicitness which theory characterises as more translatable, were also in practice more successfully translated. Furthermore, interventions with senior management support had higher levels of interpretive viability, thus making them more transformable and ensuring translation success. Also, translations were more successful when the safety interventions received adequate resourcing, were targeted at a narrow rather than a broad organizational scope and where they were integrated into existing work practices. The conceptual elements of the framework adopted in this study have the potential to support the development of translation competence among safety professionals, thus permitting the future deployment of more effective safety interventions in the workplace to reduce accidents and injuries.
Open Access
Effects of R & D implementation on the performance of publicly funded research in sultan qaboos university
(Cranfield University, 2010-09) Al Hosni, Fahad; Kakabadse, Andrew P.; Pilbeam, Colin
Models of R&D account for technical, technological and administrative factors of R&D implementation but underestimate the influence of behavioural and political factors such as power and conflict. They assume that R&D organisation is “well-insulated” from partisan, emotions, political reactions and contextual factors and that decision makers are rational and decisions are taken to best fit the content of R&D programme. The present study explores the effects of rational and irrational factors in the R&D implementation process on the performance of publicly funded research projects in universities. It uses realist and qualitative exploratory semi-structured interviews with 22 active researchers in Sultan Qaboos University provides “depth and detail” of the complexities of R&D implementation effects on its performance. The study discovers 18 measures of success of academic research and 30 effects of R&D implementation of the performance of publicly funded research.The study concludes that the iterative, non-linear and processual nature of R&D implementation is a continuous dynamic system. R&D success builds up the capacity for future success whilst failures decrease the chances of future successes. The integrated effects of implementation (IEI) influence R&D performance through technical and administrative capability of the R&D organisation as well as through behaviours of organisation members. These include leaders’ behaviours, conflict and political skills within individuals. Both success dynamism and IEI suggest contextualism implementation of R&D.
Open Access
Exploring the impact of safety culture on incident reporting: lessons learned from machine learning analysis of NHS England staff survey and incident data
(Elsevier, 2023-07-13) Kaya, Gulsum Kubra; Ustebay, S.; Nixon, James; Pilbeam, Colin
Safety culture is one of the key factors contributing to safety, even though limited evidence supports its impact on safety outcomes. This study uses supervised machine learning algorithms to explore the association between safety culture and incident reporting. The study used National Health Service (NHS) England annual staff survey data as a proxy of safety culture to predict eighteen incident reporting variables. The study did not achieve high accuracy rates in the prediction models. The highest association was found between safety culture and the number of incidents reported in class low, medium and high. LightGBM was the best-performed algorithm. SHAP plots were used to explain the model. Findings suggest that compassionate culture, violence and harassment and work pressure are critical in predicting the number of incidents reported. More specifically, the violence and harassment had a more significant impact on predicting the number of incidents reported in class high than in class medium and low. The involvement had more effect on predicting class low. The results demonstrated different behaviours in predicting different incident reporting classes. The findings facilitate lessons learned from staff surveys and incident reporting data in NHS England. Consequently, the findings can contribute to improving the safety culture in hospitals.
Open Access
Exploring the relationships among safety leadership, safety climate, psychological contract of safety, risk perception, safety compliance, and safety outcomes
(Frontiers, 2023-10-23) Omidi, Leila; Karimi, Hossein; Pilbeam, Colin; Mousavi, Saeid; Moradi, Gholamreza
Background: Recently, two types of safety compliance behaviors including deep compliance and surface compliance were differentiated. The current study aimed to investigate the relationships among safety leadership, safety climate, psychological contract of safety (PCS), risk perception, and deep compliance and surface compliance behavior of workers. In addition, the effects of both deep and surface compliance on safety outcomes were considered. Methods: Workers’ perceptions in terms of safety leadership, safety climate, PCS, risk perception, deep compliance, and surface compliance were measured by appropriate questionnaires. Three questions were asked to measure undesired safety outcomes. Structural equation modeling and correlation analysis were applied to examine the research model and relationships among variables. Results and discussion: The results of the current study showed that deep compliance was positively predicted by safety leadership, safety climate, and PCS and negatively predicted by risk perception. Surface compliance was positively predicted by safety leadership and safety climate and negatively predicted by risk perception. Surface compliance is not significantly predicted by PCS. With regard to the adverse safety outcomes, the results showed that both deep and surface compliance were negatively associated with adverse safety outcomes, however, deep compliance had a stronger negative correlation with adverse safety outcomes than surface compliance.
Open Access
Factors and mechanisms that influence intraorganisational collaboration and competition
(Cranfield University, 2011-08) Chambers, Morgan; Pilbeam, Colin
Recently, some authors point to value creation from the structure and behaviours associated with competition and collaboration inside the organisation (Helfat and Eisenhardt, 2004; Birkinshaw and Lingblad, 2005). While both competition and collaboration have been studied extensively between organisations, less attention has been focused on them and their interaction between units inside the organisation, particularly within complex and heterogeneous multinational corporations. The question is how to achieve the coordination and collaboration that is necessary for a multinational organisation to reap the benefits that international expansion has to offer and yet balance the propensity for competition that exists as business units struggle for scarce resources or new opportunities. In order to answer this question, the aim of this review is to first of all know what the factors and mechanisms are that influence competition and collaboration between organisational units within multinational organisations. Methodology: This study has been conducted using a systematic review methodology with the aim of producing a search of extant literature which can be trusted by others as being thorough, transparent, replicable and clear. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques have been used to achieve this. Findings: This review finds that the there is minimal extant literature that addresses competition and collaboration between business units within the multinational corporation and that it also fails to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors and mechanisms that influence the co-existence of intraorganisational competition and collaboration. They are typically viewed as mutually exclusive or at opposite ends of a continuum. While there has been some recent research attention given to intraorganisational collaboration and competition, each in their own right, there has not been an extensive review of the factors and mechanisms when looking at their coexistence within the multinational corporate environment. By bringing the two literatures into view and investigating the paradoxical nature of the influences on andthe interactions between competition and collaboration, insights into an optimal mix based on the corporations strategy and value creation logic can be gained for both academics and business unit leaders.
Open Access
Guided by principles or rules: a Delphi study on how safety professionals frame safety practices
(Elsevier, 2025-04-01) Pilbeam, Colin; Denyer, David; Sutliff, Mike
This study explores how safety professionals conceptualize and articulate safety practices, examining how their framing influences actions, facilitates learning from failures, and impacts overall safety outcomes. Twenty-nine safety professionals participated in a Delphi study, which included three online workshops and three rounds of surveys. Eighteen safety practices were developed, framed as both rules-based and principles-based practices. Survey results indicated that both rules-based and principles-based practices were considered essential for achieving safety, with their relative balance likely being context-dependent. While all practices were considered important for preventing accidents, those framed as principles were seen as more challenging to implement but ultimately more effective, especially in complex situations. Better understanding of the way in which safety practices are framed has significant implications for the development of safety standards, guidelines, and recommendations.
Open Access
Identifying resilience principles in the UK air transportation industry and developing an integrated conceptual resilience framework.
(Cranfield University, 2022-08) Steinmann, Fabian; Braithwaite, Graham R.; Pilbeam, Colin
Organisations across the aviation sector strive to become more resilient, and there is a great desire to integrate resilience into the operation. However, there is no clear definition of resilience, and people in academia and industry have interpreted the concept differently. The research aims to integrate different conceptualisations of resilience and develop a framework that holistically explains how resilience can be developed in the UK air transportation industry context. The development of the framework is achieved through an integration of the literature and empirical refinement of the subsequent preliminary framework. A systematic, multi-sector and cross-disciplinary literature review was conducted to determine four main themes of resilience: System Design, System Preparedness, System Response, and System Changes. A total of 26 high-level resilience principles were identified in the literature and grouped into different (sub-)themes, building the foundation for a Preliminary Resilience Framework (PRF). The empirical work of the thesis investigated five cases in the UK air transportation system. The qualitative research aimed to identify empirical evidence through thematic analysis of how the UK air transportation industry operationalised the identified high-level principles. The analysis of the cases found evidence for 19 of the 26 principles. Furthermore, the case study findings determined ten new connections between the various identified (sub-)themes and refined the PRF. The five case study findings were synthesised to develop an Integrated Conceptual Resilience Framework (ICRF). The ICRF combines findings from all five case studies and provides a holistic resilience framework, outlining the principles and features of a resilient UK air transportation system.
Open Access
Practices and challenges of safety management in outsourced facilities management
(Elsevier, 2024-06-24) Pilbeam, Colin
Introduction: Outsourcing is a commonly occurring organizational activity, but one associated with negative occupational safety outcomes. Improving the management of safety in workplaces where contractors are employed is vital, but under-researched in the service sectors. The aims of this paper were to investigate both the practices and challenges of safety management in outsourced facility management (FM), an important global service sector. Method: Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with clients and contractors in three different FM outsourcing arrangements between large corporations in the UK. Data were thematically coded against frameworks derived from existing literature to identify deployed safety management practices and reveal challenges associated with safety management in these outsourced relationships. Results: Safety management practices in outsourced FM conformed to known practices clustering into four previously identified categories (planning, selecting, on-site working, and checking). A fifth category (reviewing) was not observed. Operating across national boundaries, applying national contracts locally, working with mandated KPIs, and contract specifications all created new challenges for safety management not previously reported. Other known challenges associated with economic pressure and disorganization were observed. Conclusion: Safety management practices observed in safety critical industries also apply in FM. However, the challenges of safety management in these three cases included regulatory failures that have not been routinely identified in other empirical studies of safety in outsourcing arrangements. Practical application: Adopting widely accepted safety management practices support safer working in outsourced FM and encourage cross-sector learning. New challenges for safety management noted here encourage consideration of unintended consequences of contract terms and conditions, require corporate agreement on how to ensure safety compliance when working transnationally, and a review of decision-making and processes and procedures to enable effective and safe working locally.
Open Access
Pragmatic science? Reflections on the academic - industry interactions in a European aviation research programme
(EDP Sciences, 2019-12-17) Nixon, Jim; Pilbeam, Colin; Kirwan, Barry
In this article we explore the types of science produced and disseminated in human factors research in the cognitive domain. We reflect on the methods and techniques used in the European, Horizon 2020 Future Sky Safety Project: Human Performance Envelope (P6). This project has spanned multiple research paradigms successfully, and engaged academia and research organizations throughout. We discuss the challenges of conducting practically focused work that can also be brought to publication in peer-reviewed journals. Finally, we frame our research contributions within this project using a model of practitioner engagement.