Strengthening reliability in high hazard industries: reconciling tensions for impact

Purpose - – Recent lapses in the management of high hazard organizations, such as the Fukushima event or the Deepwater Horizon blast, add considerable urgency to better understand the complicated and complex phenomena of leading and managing high reliability organizations (HRO). The purpose of this paper is to offer both theoretical and practical insight to further strengthen reliability in high hazard organizations. Design/methodology/approach - – Phenomenological study based on over three years of research and thousands of hours of study in HROs conducted through a scholar-practitioner partnership. Findings - – The findings indicate that the identification and the management of competing tensions arising from misalignment within and between public policy, organizational strategy, communication, decision-making, organizational learning, and leadership is the critical factor in explaining improved reliability and safety of HROs. Research limitations/implications - – Stops short of full-blown grounded theory. Steps were made to ensure validity; however, generalizability may be limited due to sample. Practical implications - – Provides insight into reliably operating organizations that are crucial to society where errors would cause significant damage or loss. Originality/value - – Extends high reliability research by investigating more fully the competing tensions present in these complex, societally crucial organizations.