Prosaic Organizational Failure
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3758968 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lee Clarke (0000-0001-5108-8645, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey), Charles Perrow (Yale University) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1040-1056 |
| Publication date | 1996-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0002764296039008008 |
| OpenAlex | W2033007632 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 18 |
| References cited | 4 |
We use the case of the now-dead Shoreham Nuclear Power Station to pose some questions, and a few answers, about organizational failure. The analysis centers on the symbolism of organizational plans, specifically how organizations use plans to justify increasingly complex systems to themselves and to others. That such plans are based on sparse or nonexistent experience, and that they are often wildly unrealistic, suggests some reasons why high-technology, high-risk systems do not foster organizational learning
Business · Knowledge management · Organizational change · Organizational learning · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Computer Science · Innovation, Sustainability, Human-Machine Systems · Management and Organizational Studies · Risk Perception and Management
Bridging systems
How are you vulnerable?”
Normal Risk
Organizing for Environmental Destruction
Rethinking the Nature of Disaster
Postnormal Science, Precautionary Principle, and Worst Cases
Wading and Jumping into a New Job—Exploring Dynamics of Knowledge Flow for Systems Engineers
The Sacred and Profane of Japan’s Nuclear Safety Myth
The Aviation Paradox
Downwind of the Atomic State
Loss of site
Disowning Fukushima
Empires built on sand
Organized denial at work
How to see failure
Accumulating Trouble
The Dark Side of Organizations
Fantasy Objects
| Unique citing works | 18 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,62 |
| Citation span | 1997 - 2026 (30) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 18 |