Increasingly, scholars view reliability—the ability to plan for and withstand disaster—as a social construction. However, there is a tendency to evoke this concept only in the face of catastrophes, such as the British Petroleum oil spill or the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. This book frames reliability as a fundamental issue in the study of organizations—one that can also improve day-to-day operations. Bringing together a diverse cast of contributors, it considers how we can account for the ability of some organizations to maintain high reliability and what we can learn from them. The chapters distinguish reliability from related lines of inquiry; take stock of relevant research from different disciplinary perspectives; highlight implications for practice; and identify directions, questions, and priorities for future research. The first of its kind in over twenty years, this volume delivers a dynamic base of shared knowledge and an integrative research agenda at a time when organizational reliability has never been so important.

This book explores the identified research gap and new field of study of organizational reliability. It develops a definition and theoretical internal structure of the notion of organizational reliability as well as a theoretical background describing the structure of its three pillars, and it showcases a set of organizational solutions dedicated for the enhancement of organizational reliability. The book explores the idea that there are new capabilities needed in every organization: reliability capabilities aiming at enhancing and sustaining the reliability of entire organizations and reliability of management, information technology and human resources. The reliability capabilities are understood as the abilities to anticipate and explore potential and occurring hazards, prevent and resolve disruptions, and learn from the problems in order to maintain a proper organizational performance in both normal and abnormal situations. Based on these three pillars, the book concerns the issue of various organizational solutions in order to indicate a set of them, which supports obtaining and maintaining organizational reliability. The book is recommended reading for researchers, academics and students in the fields of management, and entrepreneurs trying to boost the reliability of their organizations.

High Reliability Management is the first book to provide an in-depth and timely look at the people who manage for high reliability--professionals who run critical systems in electricity, water, and transportation. The book tells of the extraordinary challenges that these "reliability professionals" face in ensuring that society's basic systems operate continuously and safely, even in the wake of errors in policy and technical design.

Building a High-Reliability Organization: A Toolkit for Success Gary Sculli, RN, MSN, ATP Douglas E. Paull, MD, FACS, FCCP, CHSE Building a High-Reliability Organization: A Toolkit for Success is a practical guide to becoming a high-reliability organization (HRO). HROs practice the highest standards of patient quality and prevent never events before they occur. In this first-of-its-kind book, written for real-world healthcare professionals on the front lines of patient safety, authors Gary L. Sculli, RN, MSN, ATP, and Douglas E. Paull, MD, FACS, FCCP, CHSE, take the concept of an HRO and break down what it means at the point of care. Through step-by-step instructions and a practical, straightforward approach, they demonstrate how your organization can ensure safe patient care, every day, for every patient. After reading this book, you will: Possess a clear understanding of what constitutes high-reliability healthcare Be able to promote evidence-based, reliable methods to improve safety, including team training, fatigue management systems, and investment in patient safety infrastructure and technology Understand which elements and behaviors must be included in an overall plan to achieve high reliability at the front lines of care Become a transformational leader in your healthcare organization Be able to apply the principles of a fair and just culture to promote the reporting, discussion, and disclosure of adverse events Table of Contents: Preface and Precepts Chapter 1: Situational Awareness Is Fundamental to High Reliability Chapter 2: Situational Awareness Countermeasures Chapter 3: Everyone on the Same Sheet of Music Chapter 4: Yes--You Need to Use the Checklist! Chapter 5: Preoccupation With Failure--It's an Attitude Chapter 6: Recognizing That the Expert Is Not Always the Person in Charge Chapter 7: Lab Coats and Scrubs, Meet Suits and Ties--Sensitivity to Frontline Operations Chapter 8: Just Response to Human Error: A Necessary Component of High-Reliability Organizations Chapter 9: Standardize Communication and Processes to Create Equivalent Actors Chapter 10: Ensuring Technical and Non-Technical Competence

The literature on 'high reliability organizations' demonstrates how central reliability is to organizing in certain highly demanding settings. In more mundane settings, however, where there may not be a dominant type of catastrophic failure, the meaning attributed to reliability is less likely to be unambiguous and consensual. It is more likely to be explicitly relational: a quality of the relationship between an entity that is being relied on and an entity that is relying on it. This draws attention to the importance of the relying process in contributing to how a system performs and whether it meets expectations. A field study was carried out in a highway construction and maintenance organization to analyse the various understandings of reliability that organizational members had in different contexts. It found that there were multiple understandings - involving a capacity not only to achieve particular outcomes but also comply with norms, fit behaviour to situations, and communicate about what could and could not be achieved. It also found that reliability problems were not solved in some simple sense. Instead they were transformed into other reliability problems that then had to be managed by further effort or by other organizations. We suggest that recognizing the multiple meanings of reliability, the importance of relying, and the way in which reliability problems are transformed from one form to another all have important practical implications.

Reliability is portrayed as a situation-specific localized accomplishment that involves continuous management of significant contradictions that are susceptible to interruption. Managing for higher reliability is precarious because it involves the substitution of a conceptual order for a perceptual order. Discrete concepts simplify and lag behind continuous perceptions, which means that our grasp of events is subject to mis-specification, misidentification, and misunderstanding. The gap between discrete concepts and continuous perceptions can be reduced if attention is organized so that it is directed at failures, simplifications, operations, resilience, and expertise. These micro-dynamics are discussed as a partial infrastructure that underlies Todd LaPorte's more macro-concerns with strategy and structure in the quest for failure-free interorganizational performance.

By outlining how reliability engineering practices fit within a product development program, the reader will have a better understanding of how roles and goals align with the program and how this applies to their specific role. Reliability Culture: How Leaders Build Organizations that Create Reliable Products, will help readers develop a deep understanding of reliability, including what it really means for organizations, how to implement it in daily operations, and, most importantly, how to build a culture that is centered around reliability and can generate impressive profits. When senior leaders work toward reliability, product details often get lost in translation. This book will enable organizations to overcome this problem by showing leaders how their actions truly affect product development. They will be introduced to new methods that will immediately enable them to have carefully crafted product specifications translated into matching, highly reliable products. This book will also be a breath of fresh air for reliability engineers and managers; they will see their daily struggle identified and will learn new methods for advancing their passionate struggle. These new methods will be clearly explained, so readers can begin the important process of incorporating and promoting reliability in their organizations. Benefits of this book include: For the organizational leader, this book provides tools for aligning reliability objectives and methods with the company's business and brand goals For the reliability engineer, this book identifies and proposes solutions for integrating their discipline within the larger program objective and activities Engineers and leaders alike will benefit from detailed discussions of product negotiation, program assessment, culture change methods, and more All readers will understand the progression of product design methods over the previous decades, including how market acceptance is changing Reliability Culture: How Leaders Build Organizations that Create Reliable Products is intended for a broad audience that includes organizational leaders, engineers of all disciplines, project managers, and business development partners. The book is aimed at outlining how reliability engineering practices fit with all program activities, so any team members will benefit.

BOOK SUMMARY The main topics in this book are; • Leadership Commitment • Safety Culture • Training and Education • Standardization and Documentation • Risk Assessment and Management • Teamwork and Communication • Continuous Improvement • Resilience and Adaptability Developing a High Reliability Organization is a comprehensive book that explores the concept of high reliability organizations and provides practical strategies for organizations to enhance their reliability and safety. The book outlines the key principles and characteristics of HROs, such as a commitment to safety, mindfulness, and continuous learning. It delves into the importance of effective leadership, and a proactive safety culture in achieving high reliability. Drawing on real-world examples and case studies from various industries, the book offers valuable insights and best practices for implementing HRO principles in organizations. By following the principles and strategies outlined in this book, organizations can cultivate a culture of reliability and resilience , leading to improved performance and reduced risks.