Processes changing culture

Even though there are many leadership definitions, Komvies, Lucas, and McMahon (1998) noted several basic assumptions about leadership that are incorporated into the preceding definitions. These assumptions are that leadership is a learned behavior, is teachable, occurs at all levels of the organization, does not require a charismatic personality, is a relational process, is culturally influenced, requires followership, involves purposeful change that satisfies collective needs... 

Human expertise in complex systems is constantly changing and a New Paradigm for software safety assurance is considered. As the development of Safety Critical Systems is guided by standards, the standards are to be updated3. In what follows we present a general view of how the development of safe software systems is currently practiced and show two specific solutions aimed at efficient support of the efforts. Responsibility of organizations, processes and culture, not just efforts of specific members of the organizations, is emphasized. 

Different metrics may be used to describe past performance, predict future performance, and encourage behavioral change. They are a means to evaluate the overall system performance and to develop a path toward superior process safety performance. This is accomplished by identifying where the current performance falls within a spectrum of excellent-to-poor performance. Such information will allow executives and site management to develop plans to address the specific improvement opportunities that could lead to measurable improvement in process safety. Good process safety metrics reinforce a process safety culture that promotes the belief that process safety incidents are preventable, that improvement is continuous, and that policies and procedures are necessary and will be followed. Continuous improvement is necessary and any improvement program will be based on measurable elements. Therefore, to continuously improve performance, organizations must develop and implement effective process safety metrics. 

Ramifications of Process Viewpoint Understood PDR as Continuous Improvement Understood Upper Management Commitment Location and Magnitude of Expected Gains Known Current Measures for Targeted Processes Corporate Culture Capable of Required Change... 

Major cell culture process changes such as a change in the cell line used or the development of a new master cell bank and different media such as a switch to chemically defined media to reduce contamination problems from adventitious agents and/or to provide a more consistent medium ... 

More recently, the British cultural historian Raymond Williams has written about the relations between technology and broader processes of cultural transformation in a number of books that have contributed to the creation of the academic field of cultural studies. Williams emphasized how the idea of culture, at least in the British context had emerged in the nineteenth century as a record of our reactions, in thought and feeling, to the changed conditions of our common life... Its basic element is its effort at total qualitative assessment. (Williams 1958, p. 285)... 

Process changes, like a new computer system or the use of a checklist, may help a bit, but if they are not embedded in a system in which the providers ate engaged in safety efforts, educated about how to idenhfy safety hazards and fix them, and have a culture of strong communication and teamwork, progress may be painfully slow. (Denise Grady 2010. Study finds no progress in safety at hospitals. The New York Times, 24 November 2010,1)... 

However, as is true of any tool, some extremely positive aspects of process re-engineering make it worthy of our attention. PR focuses on change implementation at the top of the corporate hierarchy. It generates more of a top-down change culture, and it focuses on process-oriented changes. 

Changing culture and changing specific behaviours are different approaches. Culture change requires a greater emphasis on the environmental circumstances in which attitudes and values are formed, and the process by which behavioural patterns turn into attitudes and values. It also emphasises the influence of attitudes,... 

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