Re: Culture
Hugo Oscar Leimann Patt (hleimann_at_houseware.com.ar)
Tue, 18 Aug 1998 23:30:11 -0500
Dear gang,
By far this is the more mature and professional list I've ever participate
in the Internet, thanks a million for this opportunity.
In this part of the world we can't but both think and program CRM in terms
of corporate culture and specially "sub-cultures". Further than that, recent
mergers in this deregulated aviation market, have brought to light some new
problems and deformities never seen before.
1. In some companies, programers (schedulers) are clearly advised by
operation managers not to sit in the same cockpit pilots coming from
different backgrounds.
2. In others, 747 old-timers F/O "sub-culture" is so strong that new
upgraded captains have difficulties to deal with them. Some of them are
flying as B747 F/O for 15-18 years now, and are no promoted to 737 captains
because of particular characteristics of the company expansion policy. Those
F/O are named "copindantes" meaning a mix of copilots and captains.
3. There is also a very strong "sub-culture" of copilots, in another
company with a bad safety track record. They blame old captains and have
form some kind of brotherhood.
4. On confraternities, it is worth to mention the chronically (and ill)
established in every company, of power groups coming from different origins
(i.e. air force, navy, civilians, army). They use to maintain inner
loyalties.
5. It seems like in this latitudes we are more adept to group "sub-cultures"
than to organizational or corporate cultures. A silence code is paralleled
with a defamation attitude to outsiders.
6. CRM principles works perfectly in compatible cockpits and very bad in the
opposite situation.
7. Fortunately the pictured situations is far for been generalized, but this
cultural problems have to be addressed in our country. That's the reason why
here CRM have a strong local flavor. And we tend to promote facilitators in
each company, in order to reach inner singular "sub cultural" aspects.
8. Of course, the classical confrontation between cockpit and cabin, and
between cockpit and maintenance are also present, some times in alarming
terms.
9. Maintenance, cabin, and dispatch "sub-cultures" are more homogeneous. The
last two suffer a severe discredit that attempts against their
"professionalism".
10. ATC personnel have also three or four "sub-cultures" living side by
side: a. military, b. civilians, c. former military rehired as civilians,
and d. females controllers. Each with their own codes.
11. Finally we suffer the "sub-culture" of former pilots promoted to
managerial positions. This former captains use to forget their previous
professional claims and CRM principles, and speak now in economic and
financial terms.
12. One of our CRM effort, as you can imagine, is focused on the
*interfaces*. But group belonging feelings are extremely firm here.
13. Classical cultural categories like power distance, machismo, etc. are
entirely dependent on the former sub cultural scenarios.
Hope this help those of you interested in foreign aviation corporate or
national cultures.
Would like to hear some suggestions.
Greetings from Buenos Aires.
Hugo
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Hugo Oscar Leimann Patt, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Certification Board & Air Force CRM Developer
National Institute for Aerospace Medicine (INMAE)
Buenos Aires - Argentina
http://www.house.com.ar/users/hf_crm