The influence of organizational culture on situation awareness and decision making in a simulated peacekeeping task environment

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2005-08

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Abstract

This research aims to provide empirical evidence to show that organizational culture is an influencing factor for situation awareness (SA) and decision making (DM). This study measures the effect of organizational culture on SA and decision making DM within a simulated peacekeeping task environment using the combined data from two military sample groups and one non-military sample group. The military sample groups were made up of 32 participants from the Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth and 52 participants from the U.S Military Academy at West Point. The non-military sample group was made up of 74 participants from Texas Tech University. Three organizational culture styles, Constructive, Passive/Defensive, and Aggressive/Defensive were measured using the Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI). SA and DM were measured using a query method. Each SA query addressed an SA requirement for stability and support operations (SASOs) and was categorized based on the level of SA each represented, Perception, Comprehension, and Projection. Three samplings of SA and DM queries were analyzed through out the peacekeeping simulation. Scores for SA and DM variables represented the percent correct and were based on the ratings of two experts. One of three regression analyses (linear regression, ordinal regression with a probit link function, and multinomial logistic regression) were used to measure the effects of the explanatory variables: organizational culture styles, sample group, and experience in SASOs on the response variables SA Perception, Comprehension, and Projection and DM. Constructive culture styles were expected to have positive affects while Passive/Defensive and Aggressive/Defensive culture styles were expected to have negative effects. Results from the main analysis revealed that organizational culture had a significant effect on SA and DM. Passive/Defensive culture style and sample group had significant effects on SA Projection, while Passive/Defensive and Aggressive/Defensive culture styles and sample group had significant effects on DM. Most of the directional effects were unexpected. The Passive/Defensive culture style had a positive effect on SA Projection scores and a negative effect on DM scores. Aggressive/Defensive culture style had a positive effect on DM scores. Effects between sample groups showed that West Point had a positive effect while Ft. Leavenworth had a negative effect on SA Projection and DM scores. No effects for explanatory variables were found for SA Perception and Comprehension. Furthermore, an exploratory analysis revealed that re-grouping sample groups by similar scores for culture styles had a greater effect on SA and DM than the effects of the individual culture styles. An analysis of variance was used to test for differences in scores for culture styles between sample groups and showed no difference between the Ft. Leavenworth and Texas Tech sample group for all three culture styles. Leavenworth and Texas Tech sample group were combined to represent one culture profile that was characterized by having lower scores than West Point for Passive/Defensive and Aggressive/Defensive culture styles. The Leavenworth and Texas Tech sample group had a significantly negative effect, while West Point had a significantly positive effect on SA Projection and DM scores. Details of methods, results, and implications for future research are presented.

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Keywords

Organizational culture, Situation awareness, Peacekeeping

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