From crisis to development--analysis of air traffic control work processes.

In this study an intervention to improve work processes in air traffic control (ATC) is evaluated. The background was the Finnish air traffic controllers' strike of 1999. The old ways of thinking and acting did not support development of ATC prompting a need for a new kind of working culture in the organisation. Several actions were started. In one of these, ATC work processes were modelled by personnel and development plans concerning work were delivered to top management. Different actors (management, trade union, stakeholders) were interviewed before (n=16) and after the project (n=7). The intervention supported systematic co-operation between different actors in the organisation. However, a follow-up revealed that only a few participants had adopted the idea of continuous work development. Mastery of human factors is crucial in a high reliability work environment such as ATC. But how is the analytical and co-operative aspect kept alive in an organisation that is run by strict international regulation and has a strong technical competence, but is not that strong in collaborative and human aspects?

[1]  Robert D. Putnam,et al.  Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community , 2000, CSCW '00.

[2]  B. Berg.  Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences , 1989 .

[3]  Robert S. Baron,et al.  So Right It's Wrong: Groupthink and the Ubiquitous Nature of Polarized Group Decision Making , 2005 .

[4]  Barry Kirwan.  An overview of a nuclear reprocessing plant Human Factors programme. , 2003, Applied ergonomics.

[5]  Hal W Hendrick,et al.  Applying ergonomics to systems: some documented "lessons learned". , 2008, Applied ergonomics.

[6]  K. Weick,et al.  Hospitals as Cultures of Entrapment: A Re-Analysis of the Bristol Royal Infirmary , 2003 .

[7]  Anneli Leppänen,et al.  Improving the Mastery of Work and the Development of the Work Process in Paper Production , 2002 .

[8]  Christine M. Pearson,et al.  International Handbook of Organizational Crisis Management , 2007 .

[9]  Eduardo Salas,et al.  Improving Teamwork in Organizations : Applications of Resource Management Training , 2001 .

[10]  R Robert,et al.  Qualitative Research in Education: Focus and Methods , 2005 .

[11]  J Rogalski,et al.  10 Training for collective competence in rare and unpredictable situations , 2002 .

[12]  Rhona Flin,et al.  Crew resource management: improving team work in high reliability industries , 2002 .

[13]  E. Hollnagel.  Handbook of Cognitive Task Design , 2009 .

[14]  K. J. Vicente,et al.  Cognitive Work Analysis: Toward Safe, Productive, and Healthy Computer-Based Work , 1999 .

[15]  Bert Ruitenberg,et al.  Air Traffic Control: Human Performance Factors , 1999 .

[16]  M. Patton.  Utilization-focused evaluation: The new century text , 1997 .

[17]  Chris W Clegg,et al.  Assessing the value of human factors initiatives. , 2008, Applied ergonomics.

[18]  Ference Marton,et al.  Phenomenography-a research approach to investigating different understandings of reality , 1986 .

[19]  K. Weick,et al.  Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks. , 1993 .

[20]  Pascal Béguin.  Risky Work Environments: Reappraising Human Work Within Fallible Systems , 2009 .

[21]  D. Schoen.  The Reflective Practitioner , 1983 .

[22]  Sarah Sharples,et al.  An observation tool to study air traffic control and flightdeck collaboration. , 2007, Applied ergonomics.

[23]  Y. Engeström,et al.  New Forms of Learning in Co-Configuration Work. , 2004 .

[24]  K. Hakkarainen,et al.  Communities of Networked Expertise: Professional and Educational Perspectives , 2004 .

[25]  Anneli Leppänen,et al.  Learning at air navigation services after initial training , 2010 .

[26]  Charles Perrow,et al.  The Next Catastrophe: Reducing Our Vulnerabilities to Natural, Industrial, and Terrorist Disasters , 2007 .

[27]  Ifip,et al.  Analysis, design and evaluation of man-machine systems 1988 : selected papers from the Third IFAC/IFIP/IEA/IFORS Conference, Oulu, Finland, 14-16 June 1988 , 1989 .

[28]  J. Hoc,et al.  Cognitive Control Dynamics for Reaching a Satisficing Performance in Complex Dynamic Situations , 2007 .

[29]  Allen W. Batteau.  Anthropological approaches to culture, aviation, and flight safety , 2002 .

[30]  Tom Kontogiannis,et al.  Managing emergencies and abnormal situations in air traffic control (part II): teamwork strategies. , 2010, Applied ergonomics.

[31]  Yrjö Engeström,et al.  Putting activity theory to work: Contributions from developmental work research , 2005 .

[33]  Esther Oprins,et al.  Design of a Competence-Based Assessment System for Air Traffic Control Training , 2006 .

[34]  Y. Engeström,et al.  Activity theory as a framework for analyzing and redesigning work. , 2000, Ergonomics.

[35]  Carol A. Manning,et al.  Air Traffic Control , 2008 .

[36]  R. Samurçay,et al.  Work Process Knowledge , 2002 .

[37]  J R Wilson,et al.  Fundamentals of ergonomics in theory and practice. , 2000, Applied ergonomics.

[38]  C. Cooper,et al.  International review of industrial and organizational psychology , 1986 .

[39]  K. Zink,et al.  Comprehensive change management concepts. Development of a participatory approach. , 2008, Applied ergonomics.

[40]  Chung-Hsing Yeh,et al.  Human performance interfaces in air traffic control. , 2010, Applied ergonomics.

[41]  Michael Nolan.  Air-Traffic Control , 2009 .

[42]  Laurence Rognin,et al.  Human communication, mutual awareness and system dependability. Lessons learnt from air-traffic control field studies , 2001, Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf..

[43]  Ben-Tzion Karsh,et al.  A change management framework for macroergonomic field research. , 2008, Applied ergonomics.

[44]  B Kirwan,et al.  Soft systems, hard lessons. , 2000, Applied ergonomics.

[45]  Yueng-Hsiang Huang,et al.  Flexible workspace design and ergonomics training: impacts on the psychosocial work environment, musculoskeletal health, and work effectiveness among knowledge workers. , 2008, Applied ergonomics.

[46]  Carl Bereiter,et al.  Education and Mind in the Knowledge Age , 2002 .

[47]  Christopher D. Wickens,et al.  Flight to the Future: Human Factors in Air Traffic Control Edited by Christopher D. Wickens, Anne S. Mavor, & James P. McGee 1997, 368 pages, $44.95. Washington, DC: National Academy Press ISBN 0-309-05637-3 , 1997 .

[48]  Carol A Manning,et al.  A Human Factors Review of the Operational Error Literature , 2006 .

[49]  Stephen Russell Murray.  The development of an innovative measuring instrument to assess human factors training of air traffic controllers , 2009 .

[50]  Tom Kontogiannis,et al.  A proactive approach to human error detection and identification in aviation and air traffic control , 2009 .

[51]  Britta Herbig,et al.  Implicit Knowledge and Experience in Work and Organizations , 2005 .

[52]  Anneli Leppänen,et al.  Does Multi-Level Intervention Enhance Work Process Knowledge?. , 2008 .

[53]  N. Denzin,et al.  Handbook of Qualitative Research , 1994 .

[54]  Steven Dhondt,et al.  Human factors in organizational design and management-VI : Proceedings of the sixth International Symposium on Human Factors in Organizational Design and Management held in the Hague, the Netherlands, August 19-22, 1998 , 1998 .

[55]  Pauliina Mattila,et al.  Evaluation of an organizational stress management program in a municipal public works organization. , 2008, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[56]  Curt R Johansson,et al.  Organizational climate in air traffic control Innovative preparedness for implementation of new technology and organizational development in a rule governed organization. , 2006, Applied ergonomics.

[57]  Raja Parasuraman,et al.  Automation in Future Air Traffic Management: Effects of Decision Aid Reliability on Controller Performance and Mental Workload , 2005, Hum. Factors.

[58]  G. V. Hootegem,et al.  Work process knowledge in technological and organizational development: literature review , 2003 .