An Assessment of Lean Communication at a Nuclear Power Plant

Abstract

Communication is the sharing of information between individuals or groups to reach common understanding or goals. Ensuring effective and efficient communication is important when dealing with complex structures such as a nuclear power generation environment. This calls for a need for partnership and dialogue between major stakeholders in government, industry, employees, and the public at large. Even though communication can alarm people to seek safety, it can be used to calm employees as well as generate a sense of urgency. This chapter uses a survey to investigate the relationship between communication and 13 critical factors of lean management principles in an organization where safety is the fundamental component of the process. Data was collected and analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and regression analysis. The results show that friendliness, willingness, guarantee, criticism, self-esteem, and acceptance are positive predictors of a lean communication while responsibility is negative.