1. Multiple Identities in High Reliability Organizations: A Case Study
- Author
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Samir L. Vaz, Gabriela X. Maia, Reed E. Nelson, and Éder Henriqson
- Subjects
Management of Technology and Innovation ,Strategy and Management ,General Business, Management and Accounting - Abstract
It is generally accepted that consensus about the features of the “high reliability” identity allow organizations performing hazardous activities to act in an error-free manner. This work challenges this assumption, providing evidence of multiple identities in a High Reliability Organization. We conducted an inductive case study in a large oil and gas producer, whose top executives emphasized safety as a central and distinctive feature of the company. Our analysis was based on extensive data: presentations, interviews, observation, and conversations. The results permit us to describe two organizational identities of safety on offshore oil platforms: “controlling” and “caring.” We found that managers and workers interpreted safety both as imposing “strict sanctions” and possessing “meaningful value.” They expressed the organizational identity through varying forms of antinomies: authoritative versus respectful interactions and resisting versus adapting actions. These dynamics of identity help us better understand the organizational process of “becoming” highly reliable.
- Published
- 2023
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