Principles of adaptive management in complex safety-critical organizations

Teemu Reiman (Corresponding Author), C. Rollenhagen, Elina Pietikäinen, Jouko Heikkilä

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

    25 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This paper contributes to safety management by bringing in ideas from organizational complexity theories. Much of the studies and the literature on organizations as complex adaptive systems have focused on how to produce new innovations or how to increase financial effectiveness. We take the view that safety-critical organizations can be perceived as complex adaptive systems, and we discuss what this means for the management of safety. Our aim is to elaborate on the issue of what kinds of principles the management of safety should be based on in complex adaptive systems. In brief, we suggest that safety management should be adaptive, building on several different principles. Based on literature on complex adaptive systems we first identify the general features of complex adaptive systems, such as self-organizing and non-linearity, which need to be considered in management. Based on the features of complex adaptive systems, we define eight key principles of adaptive safety management and illustrate usefulness of the principles in making sense of the practice of safety management.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)80-92
    JournalSafety Science
    Volume71
    Issue numberPart B
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

    Fingerprint

    Safety Management
    Adaptive systems
    Organizations
    Safety
    management
    Practice Management
    Innovation
    innovation

    Keywords

    • safety management
    • complexity theories
    • complex adaptive systems
    • systems thinking

    Cite this

    Reiman, Teemu ; Rollenhagen, C. ; Pietikäinen, Elina ; Heikkilä, Jouko. / Principles of adaptive management in complex safety-critical organizations. In: Safety Science. 2014 ; Vol. 71, No. Part B. pp. 80-92.
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    Reiman, T, Rollenhagen, C, Pietikäinen, E & Heikkilä, J 2014, 'Principles of adaptive management in complex safety-critical organizations', Safety Science, vol. 71, no. Part B, pp. 80-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2014.07.021

    Principles of adaptive management in complex safety-critical organizations. / Reiman, Teemu (Corresponding Author); Rollenhagen, C.; Pietikäinen, Elina; Heikkilä, Jouko.

    In: Safety Science, Vol. 71, No. Part B, 2014, p. 80-92.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

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    Reiman T, Rollenhagen C, Pietikäinen E, Heikkilä J. Principles of adaptive management in complex safety-critical organizations. Safety Science. 2014;71(Part B):80-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2014.07.021

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