Organizational Context of Human Factors

Abstract

Organizational structure is analyzed for the impact it has on the human factors function in military and non-military organizations. The social structure's impact upon design engineers, the social role of the operator, and on the human factors engineer is detailed. The impact of equipment upon the operator and upon the social structure is detailed. Design philosophies are contrasted. The low status and power of the human factors engineer is contrasted to the status and power of the design engineer. Top management is seen as largely responsible for the low utilization of good human factors engineering. Recommendations for alleviating this include structural changes, accountability measures, documentation, and unobtrusive changes in socialization and culture in the organization. Examples from the literature and observations are provided.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1982
Accession Number
ADA123435

Entities

People

  • Charles Perrow

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Cognition
  • Commercial Pilots
  • Contracts
  • Engineers
  • Human Behavior
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Management Personnel
  • Marine Transportation
  • Military Research
  • Naval Operations
  • New York
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Psychology
  • Test And Evaluation

Readers

  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Systems Analysis and Design