Measuring maintenance culture and maintenance core task with CULTURE-questionnaire: A case study in the power industry

Organisational culture has become a focus of much attention in industry in general and the nuclear industry in particular. In maintenance work, the research has addressed mainly human error issues or strategic decision making and optimisation. The present study utilises the CULTURE-questionnaire that is designed to measure the different cultural aspects of complex organisations. Functioning of the questionnaire and the results obtained in a case study at a maintenance organisation of a nuclear power plant are reported in this paper. The questionnaire consisted of four instruments: measures of values, psychological job characteristics, individual perceptions and organisational core task. Three of the instruments were factor analysed and 13 summated scales were formed. The core task instrument was used in a cluster analysis to separate the respondents into groups on the basis of their orientation towards the maintenance work. Differences between the work tasks, section, age and length of service were studied. Hierarchical position in the company influenced perceptions of values. Core task orientation influenced the perception and subjective feelings towards one's organisation. Several partially overlapping subcultures were thus identified. The implications of the different work orientations for effective maintenance are discussed.