Attached is an assignment from my organizational communication class, COM 300. The assignment objective was to analyze the organizational culture at NASA based off of a documentary about the failed Challenger mission and relates organizational theories to the organizational culture. I describe the culture at NASA as a prescriptive culture as outlined by scholars such as Deal & Kennedy because NASA seems to hold values, have heroes that exemplify those values, have rites and rituals, and communicate through organizational channels. Furthermore, I apply Weick's theory of organizing to NASA's organizational culture and how sensemaking could have prevented the issue. I learned that despite having characteristics of a strong organizational culture, an organization can still have calamitous setbacks. It is through sensemaking in an information environment that we may help prevent such failures. By analyzing the organizational culture at NASA through the lens of organizational communication theorists, I effectively demonstrate my knowledge of these key organizational communication concepts.
Kennan Martin
COM 300
Dr. Baker
5 October 2017
1) Describe the organizational culture at NASA based on the information presented in the documentary
In the documentary, NASA is presented as an innovative and advanced organization. With the success of the moon landing, the organization is confident in its ability to create spacecrafts and launch them effectively. By way of their success, NASA must have felt pressure from the public to continue to achieve great feats. On the outside, NASA seems like a high-performing organization with its many engineers, experts, well-trained astronauts, and leaders. NASA is a group of competent individuals who value technology, innovation, scholarship, exploration, and performance. They held press conferences with the astronauts and gave the American people individuals to root for in their embarking to new territory. In other words, NASA seems to have a strong organizational culture intent on space exploration.
2) Would you describe it as a prescriptive culture as outlined by scholars such as Deal & Kennedy and Peters and Waterman (hint you will need to read chapter 4 to answer this).
I would describe it as a prescriptive culture because NASA has components and themes of a strong culture that scholars such as Deal, Kennedy, Peters, and Waterman outline. Deal and Kennedy assert that strong organizational cultures arise when organizations hold values, have heroes that exemplify those values, have rites and rituals, and communicate through organizational channels. NASA seems to have these components, valuing space travel, regarding their astronauts as heroes to the public, and communicate formally and informally. Furthermore, NASA has traits that Peters and Waterman argue are necessary for excellent organizations. These scholars assert that consistent themes of excellent organizations might include a bias for action, hands-on, value driven, and close relations to the customer. NASA displays these themes in its organizational culture and has man components that would lead people to assume it has a strong organizational culture.
3) How does Weick's view of organizing especially sensemaking relate to this case?
Weick’s view of organizing relates to this case because this unforeseen accident could have been prevented if the assembly rules and communication cycles for NASA were effective of reducing equivocality. After Allan refused to sign his permission to use the rocket boosters in those colder temperatures, his supervisor went ahead to sign off on their use. For each individual, equivocality was high and they both had different interpretations of its meaning. For Allan, it meant his boosters might malfunction in the colder weather. For his supervisor, it meant another piece to the puzzle of an organizational aspiration. After permission was granted in haste to launch the Challenger, no individual questioned the decision. This lead to the accidental mistake of launching the Challenger. After the explosion, equivocality was high because NASA was uncertain why the accident occurred.