Mindful Organizing Research Articles

Enhancing Organizational Resilience through Mindful Organizing

Organizational resilience and mindfulness are inextricably connected and have specific characteristics related to responding to challenging events. This mixed-method research study aimed to explore the relationship between mindful organizing and organizational resilience. A qualitative critical incident analysis was conducted with executives to explore insights into mindfulness and resilience at the organizational level. Using the analysis of a moment structures (AMOS) program, the structural equation modeling method was employed to assess the relationships between mindfulness, mindful organizing, and organizational resilience. A total of 639 usable cross-sectional questionnaires from diverse organizations in Thailand were used for data analysis. The findings of the current study reveal that mindful organizing has a positive influence on organizational resilience. This paper discusses the implications and limitations of these findings, along with suggestions for future research.

Exploring the consequences of mindfulness at work: the impact of mindful organizing on employee attitudes and behavior toward work and organization

PurposeDrawing on the social exchange theory, the authors extend the high-reliability literature by examining employees' subjective experience of working in contexts engaging in mindful organizing (MO). Ultimately, they ask the question about how MO affects employees' attitudes and behavior toward work and organization, such us organizational commitment (OC), motivation to work and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), in ordinary business settings. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed 307 employees from various industries, using paper-and-pencil questionnaires. A series of hierarchical regression analyses and structural equation modeling were performed to test our hypotheses.FindingsThe authors found that MO is positively related to employees' affective and normative commitment to an organization, and that affective commitment is positively related to motivation to work and OCB. The study also reveals that the affective commitment has a partially mediating role in the MO – motivation and MO – OCB relations. Although several researchers argue that the effectiveness of MO may be higher in an uncertain environment, the authors’ study indicates that the environment does not moderate the relationship between MO and OC.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first attempts to explore the effects of MO in a traditional (i.e. nonhigh reliability) business context. Furthermore, their findings prove that MO not only leads to higher reliability and greater safety, as previous studies show, but it also positively affects performance-related attitudes and behavior.

Understanding the relationship between High Reliability Theory (HRT) of mindful organizing and Safety Management Systems (SMS) within the aerospace industry: A cross-sectional quantitative assessment

There seems to be a paucity in extant literature that assesses the relationship between Safety Management Systems (SMS) and High Reliability Theory (HRT) behavior process of mindful organizing (MO) among aerospace organizations. There could be benefits for organizational safety by exploring this relationship in high-reliability organizations (HROs) like the aerospace industry. Using a modified Safety Organizing Scale (SOS) by Vogus and Sutcliffe (2007) and a validated SMS scale, the relationship between SMS and MO was measured. The perceptions of a cross-section of respondents from commercial airlines with SMS and commercial space licensees without SMS in the United States (U.S.) was assessed. A four-factor model of MO had acceptable fit. A model showing the relationship between SMS and MO had good fit and showed a high significant strength of relationship (r = 0.82, p = 0.000) with a big effect size. There were also significant differences in mean responses among management personnel and non-management personnel on the MO factor “sensitivity to operations” and the result suggests managers were better at identifying personnel with skills and knowledge to ensure safer task accomplishment than non-management personnel. The study results suggest that the SMS requirements for commercial airlines in the U.S. can enrich the identification and understanding of MO factors and it may be beneficial for the commercial space industry to formally adopt SMS. Future research studies may include direct comparisons in multiple aerospace organizations using a larger sample size to determine the overall understanding of MO factors and how it affects SMS.

Reliability and Validity of the Malay Version of Mindful Organizing Scale Amongst Nursing Staff

Aim: This study tested the reliability and validity of the 9-item Mindful organizing scale and safety performance scale in the sample of private hospital nurses in different states of Malaysia. Methods: Mindful Organizing scale and safety behavior scale were translated into Bahasa Malaya. To accomplish this task, the survey was conducted of 475 registered nursing staff in different states of Malaysia in 2020 through a self-administered questionnaire. For convergent and discriminant validity of our research variables, we used the Structural equation modeling (SEM) technique with the help of SPSS AMOS 21. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability analysis, and analysis of aggregation through intra-class correlation coefficients indices were also carried out. Results: Our results testified the unidimensional structure of the mindful organizing scale as well as for safety performance both indicators, and exhibited satisfactory internal consistency for both mindful organizing and safety performance. Also, the aggregation of scores to the team level was well under the prescribed limit. Conclusions: We are confident to establish that the Malay version of the mindful organizing and safety performance scales has shown to be a reliable and valid measure that can measure collective mindfulness and safety behavior amongst nursing staff. Our translated version can be used in other high-reliability organizations (HROs) in this cultural context and other industries that also want to achieve reliability in their operational performance.

Agility and Safety Performance among Nurses: The Mediating Role of Mindful Organizing.

This study aimed to assess the impact of workforce agility on private hospital nursing staff’s safety behavior with the mediating role of mindful organizing. This study was cross-sectional. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 369 nursing staff. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to check the internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and hypotheses testing. For mediation analysis, the bootstrapping technique was used. Our findings suggested that workforce agility is the possible predictor of mindful organizing, as all of these dimensions have a positive impact on mindful organizing. Reference to safety performance sub-dimensions, proactivity, adaptability, and resilience had a positive significant impact on (a) safety compliance, and proactivity had a positive impact on (b) safety participation. Further, mindful organizing was also found to be positively associated with safety performance. Evidence for mediation between workforce agility and safety performance was also observed. Proactivity, adaptability, and resilience can enhance safety performance for the nursing staff. Workforce agility can also help the organization to attain mindful organizing, which will help them to achieve operational excellence, whereas in the past, high-reliability organizations were mainly found practicing mindful organizing. This study demonstrated the key impact of workforce agility and mindful organizing on safety behaviors directly and indirectly.

Mindful organizing as a healthcare strategy to decrease catheter-associated infections in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. A systematic review and grading recommendations (GRADE) system.

To explore the clinical evidence available on mindful organizing (MO) that will improve teamwork for positioning and managing central venous catheters in patients admitted to neonatal intensive care and other pediatric intensive care units to decrease central-line-associated and catheter-related bloodstream infections (CLABSI and CRBSI). We searched several databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL, SCOPUS, and Web of Science) up to June 2018. We included studies investigating the effectiveness of MO teamwork in reducing CLABSI and CRBSI. The systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines. We used validated appraisal checklists to assess quality. Seven studies were included: only one was a non-randomized case-controlled trial (CCT). All the others had a pre-post intervention design, one a time-series design and one an interrupted time-series design. The methodological heterogeneity precluded a meta-analysis. Despite the low certainty of evidence with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system, three studies including thousands of participants provided numerical data for calculating risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) comparing MO with no intervention for decreasing the CLABSI rate in neonatal and pediatric ICUs. The one CCT disclosed no significant difference in the CLABSI rate decrease between groups (RR = 0.96; 95%CI 0.47-1.97). Nor did the pre- and post-intervention interrupted time-series design disclose a significant decrease (RR = 0.80; 95%CI 0.36 1.77). In the study using a before-after study design, the GRADE system found that the CLABSI rate decrease differed significantly in favor of post-intervention (RR = 0.13; 95%CI 0.03 0.57; p = 0.007). Despite the decreased CLABSI rate, the available evidence is low in quality. To reduce the unduly high CLABSI rates in neonatal and pediatric intensive care settings, custom-designed clinical trials should further define the clinical efficacy of MO to include it in care bundles as a new international standard.

Developing Mindful Organizing in Teams: A Participation Climate is not Enough, Teams Need to Feel Safe to Challenge their Leaders

Mindful organizing (also known as collective mindfulness) is a collective capability that allows teams to anticipate and swiftly recover from unexpected events. This collective capability is especially relevant in high-risk environments where reliability in performance is of utmost importance. In this paper, we build on current mindful organizing theory by showing how two front-line communication and participatory conditions (perceived safety for upward dissent and climate for employee engagement) interact to predict mindful organizing. We shed light on the controversy around mindful organizing’s effect on team’s subjective experience at work by showing that it leads to greater team job satisfaction and thus lowers individual turnover intentions. These relationships were tested using a time-lagged design with two data-collection points using a sample of 47 teams within the nuclear power industry.

Greening multinational enterprises in the oil, gas and petrochemicals

PurposePremised on the shortage of research on the role of organisational mindfulness in promoting environmental sustainability, this study evaluates the effects of organisational mindfulness and mindful organising on environmental sustainability outcomes in the critical case of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in the oil and gas sector in the Arabian Gulf.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from the (oil and gas sector) MNES. A total of 92 completed responses were received. The respondents include executives, senior managers and directors. The data were analysed using SmartPLS software. The measurement and structural models were evaluated.FindingsThe models show that four (of five) dimensions of organisational mindfulness (defined as organisational goals, desires and strategies) and mindful organising (defined as organisational tactics and practices) are significantly related. Mindful organising is significantly associated with more environmentally sustainable outcomes. But contrary to expectations sensitivity to the local environment did not have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between mindful organising and environmental sustainability initiatives and outcomes of these MNEs.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper presents several hypotheses, most of which were confirmed. Direct effects of organizational mindfulness, mindful organizing were confirmed. Environmental sensitivity has a direct effect rather than a moderating effect (as hypothesized) on environmental sustainability.Practical implicationsEnvironmental sustainability can be approached by MNEs in the oil and gas sector by among other factors, increased environmental sensitivity, signalling environmental behaviours the organisation expects, rewards and supports and putting in place a social process that is reliant on extensive and continuous interactions between individuals and among teams regarding these environmental expectations.Social implicationsSocial and environmental performance of MNEs can be improved through mindfulness-based approaches, effects of which can be transmitted through a social process that relies on continuous real-time communication and interactions among members through formal and informal interactions during meetings, briefings, work and play. Sensitivity and respect for the host community and environment can bolster brand image and social relations.Originality/valueThe paper addresses the greening issues surrounding the largely unexplored context of the Arabian Gulf’s oil and gas sector. It demonstrates that ongoing greening communications and interactions through briefings, meetings, updates and in teams' ongoing work are some of the mechanisms for achieving sustainability. Also environmental sensitivity is a direct driver rather than a contingent factor of sustainability.

Spanish validation of the mindful organizing scale: A questionnaire for the assessment of collective mindfulness

IntroductionMindful organizing (also known as collective mindfulness) is a team level construct that is said to underpin the principles of high-reliability organizations (HROs), as it has shown to lead to almost error-free performance. While mindful organizing research has proliferated in recent years, studies on how to measure mindful organizing are scarce. Vogus and Sutcliffe (2007) originally validated a nine-item “Mindful Organizing Scale” but few subsequent validation studies of this scale exist. The present study aimed to validate a Spanish version of the Mindful Organizing Scale. MethodThe sample included 47 teams (comprising of a total of 573 workers with an average team size of 12.19) from a Spanish nuclear power plant. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability analysis, and an analysis of aggregation indices were carried out. A correlation analysis and CFA were used to further validate the scale in terms of its distinctiveness from, and relationship with, other team-related variables such as safety culture, team safety climate, and team learning. Finally, evidence of criterion-related validity was collected by testing the incremental validity of the mindful organizing scale in the association with various workplace safety outcomes (safety compliance and safety participation). ResultsThe results confirmed a unidimensional structure of the scale and indicated satisfactory internal consistency. Aggregation of the scores to the team level was justified while significant positive correlations between mindful organizing and other team-related variables (safety culture, team safety climate, team learning) were found. Moreover, mindful organizing showed distinctiveness from safety culture, team safety climate and team learning. Finally, incremental validity of the scale was supported, as it shows to be associated with safety compliance and safety participation above and beyond other related constructs. ConclusionsThe Spanish version of the Mindful Organizing Scale has shown to be a valid and reliable scale that can be used to measure mindful organizing. ContributionsThe validation of the unidimensional Spanish version of Vogus and Sutcliffe’s (2007) Mindful Organizing Scale provides researchers and practitioners with a reliable and valid tool to use in Spanish speaking organizations to measure mindful organizing, which has been shown to result in more reliable performance. Theoretically, this study offers four contributions. Firstly, it validates a scale that operationalizes the ‘mindful organizing’ construct in a traditional high-reliability organization (nuclear power plant) which has never been done before. Secondly, it offers evidence that a mindful organizing scale can be validated in a new cultural context and language (Spanish) to any of the previous studies done before it. Thirdly, it adds to our understanding of mindful organizing’s nomological network by distinguishing it from other team and safety-related variables. Lastly, it builds on current research showing sound psychometric properties of a one-dimensional, quantitative measure of mindful organizing.

The impact of mindful organizing on operational performance: An explorative study

This study explores the effect of Mindful Organizing, a concept originally developed in the high-reliability organizations literature. We show that mindful organizing can also be applied to ordinary organizations seeking better performance, not just to organizations seeking high reliability. Results of this study demonstrate that mindful organizing and operational performance are positively related. Further, mindful organizing benefits organizations in an uncertain environment more than organizations in a stable environment. Future research avenues of this understudied concept in operations management are discussed.

Pick Up Your Tools: Integrating Tools into a Sociomaterial Model of Mindful Organizing

Mindful organizing has been heralded as an important way of managing unexpected events. Prior studies have mostly taken a human-centered approach to mindful organizing. To account for the relevancy of tools in organizational practice, we draw on the notions of inscriptions and sociomateriality to examine how a computer-based tool shapes mindful organizing in a German hospital. This perspective on tools brings aspects of mindful organizing to the fore—inscribing the big picture, inscribing temporality, and inscribing accountability—that have rarely been considered so far. Interestingly, some of the tool’s shortcomings also fostered mindful organizing. The contribution of our study is to “pick up” the importance of tools and integrate their role in a model of mindful organizing. This allows discussing issues of temporality that go beyond conceptualizing time as a mere resource and the impact of accountability as it is produced in everyday work.

Organizational Mindfulness and Mindful Organizing: A Reconciliation and Path Forward

Ray, Baker, and Plowman's (2011) study of organizational mindfulness highlights latent tensions in the mindfulness literature and promising avenues for future research. Their study provides a sprin...

Mindful Organizing as a Paradigm to Develop Managers

How can managers prepare for extreme but exceptional events and for the challenge of managing complexity and uncertainty in their daily business? Confronted with the challenge of achieving high and reliable performance in risk-prone, fast-paced, and unpredictable environments, managers and management scholars can learn a lot from the organizing principles of mindful organizing (MO). MO is based on lessons learned from the high-reliability seeking of organizations such as aircraft carriers and nuclear power plants as well as from the analysis of severe crisis events in these organizations. MO provides the guiding principles and proactive managerial mind-set to build collective organizational capabilities for anticipating the evolution of unexpected events and acting resiliently in times of crisis. The paradigm of MO differs from the rationality-based classical management paradigm, takes the complexity and unpredictability of organizations into account, and puts the design of sensemaking processes at the center of managerial attention. This article explores how the managerial paradigm of MO can be used in action-learning management development programs. I explain how to use the staff ride, a qualitative event analysis focusing on individual and collective sensemaking, to illustrate for managers how unexpected events evolve and how to develop collective patterns of mindfulness.

Organization at the limit: lessons from the Columbia disaster

Notes on contributors. Foreword: Sean O'Keefe. Part I: Introduction. 1 Introduction: Organizational Aspects of the Columbia Disaster: Moshe Farjoun and William H. Starbuck (New York University). Part II: The Context of the Disaster. 2 History and Policy in the Space Shuttle Program: Moshe Farjoun (New York University). 3 System Effects: On Slippery Slopes, Repeating Negative Patterns, and Learning from Mistake? Diane Vaughan (Boston College). 4 Organizational Learning and Action in the Midst of Safety Drift: Revisiting the Space Shuttle Program's Recent History: Moshe Farjoun (New York University). 5 The Space Between in Space Transportation: A Relational Analysis of the Failure of STS-107: Karlene H. Roberts, Peter M. Madsen, Vinit M. Desai (University of California - Berkley). Part III: Influences on decision making. 6 The Opacity of Risk: Language and the Culture of Safety in NASA's Space Shuttle Program: Willie Ocasio (Northwestern University). 7 Coping with Temporal Uncertainty: When Rigid, Ambitious Deadlines Don't Make Sense: Sally Blount (New York University), Mary Waller (Tulane University), and Sophie Leroy (New York University). 8 Attention to Production Schedule and Safety as Determinants of Risk-Taking in NASA's Decision to Launch the Columbia Shuttle: Angela Buljan (University of Zagreb) and Zur Shapira (New York University). Part IV: The Imaging Debate. 9 Making Sense of Blurred Images: Mindful Organizing in Mission STS-107: Karl Weick (University of Michigan). 10 The Price of Progress: Structurally Induced Inaction: Scott A. Snook and Jeffrey C. Connor (Harvard University). 11 Data Indeterminacy: One NASA, Two Modes: Raghu Garud and Roger Dunbar (New York University). 12 The Recovery Window: Organizational Learning Following Ambiguous Threats: Amy C. Edmondson, Michael A. Roberto, Richard M.J. Bohmer, Erika M. Ferlins, Laura R. Feldman (Harvard University). 13 Barriers to the Interpretation and Diffusion of Information about Potential Problems in Organizations: Lessons from the Space Shuttle Columbia: Frances Milliken, Theresa K. Lant, and Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell (New York University). Part V: Beyond Explanation. 14 Systems Approaches to Safety: NASA and the Space Shuttle Disasters: Nancy Leveson, Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, John S. Carroll, Betty Barrett, Alexander Brown, Nicolas Dulac, Lydia Fraile, and Karen Marais (MIT). 15 Creating Foresight: Lessons for Enhancing Resilience from Columbia: David Woods (Ohio State). 16 Making NASA More Effective: William H. Starbuck (New York University) and Johnny Stevenson (NASA). 17 Observations on the Columbia Accident: Henry McDonald (University of Tennessee). Part VI: Conclusion. 18 Conclusion: Moshe Farjoun and William H. Starbuck (New York University). Index