Cultural Diversity within the airline industry
Senarat Jayasekera BAvM MAv FRAeS © 2020 First published in 2006
Introduction
The world today, due to rapid globalisation, consists of various nationalities coming together to perform with the aim of achieving a single goal. In no other field is this phenomenon more obvious than in the field of aviation. The manufacturer of an aircraft could be in the United States or in Western Europe whereas the aircraft might later be flown for a South East Asian airline by pilots originating from an East European country. The overall maintenance of the aircraft might be carried out by the country’s own citizens. It is therefore a foregone conclusion that personnel from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds will be involved in most day-to-day operations in the airline industry. In spite of an accepted common (English) language being spoken within and outside the industry, there will always be varied behaviour and reactions amongst the personnel due to their diverse ethnicity and culture. Therefore managing diversity in the airline industry is of paramount importance in this high risk environment if safety and efficiency are not to be compromised. This paper critically analyses the various facets of human diversity. It thereafter examines the strategic advantages of embarking on a diversity management programme with its positive implications for staff and customers and its crucial links to a solid safety culture and crew resource management. Lastly, the paper presents facts and evidence to strongly recommend the airline industry to incorporate diversity management programmes.
Human diversity is a result of various individual human behaviours derived through the many methods of human programming
Humans possess unique individual mannerisms that can be attributed to their external surroundings. The habits and characteristics absorbed due to these surroundings throughout life evolve into mental programming that can be broadly classified as culture. If this phenomenon is further dissected, Hofstede mentions of three levels of ‘human programming’, namely ‘human nature’, ‘human culture’ and ‘human personality’ that form the bedrock of human behaviour (Figure 1). In today’s airline industry, multi-ethnicities perform the omni-functions that go on to turn the various cogs in all forms of operations. Diversity is therefore the human cultures and behaviours the various ethnicities including the natives bring in with them into the airline industry. Human diversity also depends heavily on the overall behaviour of individual organisations resulting in positive or negative behaviour contributing to overall diversity.
The field of aviation fits into the category of high-risk industries. ‘Safety’ in aviation depends on a ‘safety chain’, where key ingredients were thought to be composed of technology, regulatory procedures and trained professionals. Investigations however into accidents in the past 25 years have brought to light a crucial factor namely the organisational pathogens, researched by James Reason (Helmreich & Merritt, 1998). Modern day aviation safety and thereby airline safety is now seen through a broader spectrum of mechanical, human and organisational factors. The era of organisational accidents has dawned (Reason, 1990, cited in Maurino et al., 1995). It is therefore crucial that the airline industry places great emphasis on ‘culture’ and thereby on the subject of ‘diversity’ during its operations.
Mastering culture and thereby human behaviour leads to mastering overall diversity
Culture goes beyond a person’s heritage in aviation. Helmreich (1999, p.1) cites ‘National Culture’, ‘Professional Culture’ and ‘Organisational Culture’ as the bedrock when dealing with behaviour amongst personnel, especially among pilots, in the aviation industry. Hofstedte [cited in Helmreich, (in press), p.2] defines culture as ‘the software of the mind’.
The three cultures can be summarised in the following manner.
National Culture:
National culture can be defined as shared values and attitudes of a national group that direct behaviour. National culture surrounds an individual from birth. Four important dimensions are attributed to the national culture according to Hofstedte, (1980), cited in Helmreich & Merritt, (1998). (Refer Appendix A). National culture also associates itself automatically with its own language or dialect, which is a crucial reason for misunderstandings when individuals or a group of one national culture exchanges ideas with another individual or group possessing a different national culture.
Professional culture:
Professional culture depicts the attitudes and behaviour associated with an occupation. As professions are always attributed to special expertise (Hughes, 1958, cited in Helmreich & Merritt, 1998, p.27), some professional cultures especially within the aviation industry can form solid bedrock similar to a national culture. In professional cultures, senior professional member behaviour is invariably absorbed by junior members of the same profession to be passed on in a perpetual loop. Due to its uniqueness, high-risk and high-tech status, professionals in the airline industry are observed at all times by industry watchdogs contributing to a further enhancement of their status and thereby their professional culture.
Organisational culture:
Organisational culture is defined as the values, beliefs, assumptions, rituals, symbols and behaviour that define a group in relation to other organisations (Helmreich & Merritt, 1998, p. 109). It is also defined as a phenomenon which can be managed and manipulated according to Deal & Kennedy, (1982) and Peters & Waterman, 1982, (cited in Helmreich & Merritt 1998, p. 109). Organisational culture is therefore the carrier wave, within which national and professional cultures are transmitted.
Individual critical behaviour is strongly influenced by the three cultures (Helmreich, 1999), whereas all three cultures have their strengths and weaknesses. National cultures due to their origins are highly resistant to change. Professional cultures to a lesser extent and organisational cultures to a greater extent are malleable. Organisational cultures are also more amenable to change (Helmreich & Merritt, 1998, p.110). The aim of the airline industry should be to build safety cultures, efficiency and harmony on the strengths of national cultures simultaneously tapping into and exploiting the strengths of professional and organisational cultures. A good handle is thereby afforded to diversity to be exploited to the fullest.
Management activities and practices are a major cause of influence on organisational behaviour and thereby on organisational culture. As organisational culture is greatly malleable, the management of any airline industry should go to great extents to mould a positive atmosphere within the industry thereby enhancing culture and positive behaviour. Culture and management, operating in tandem should therefore seamlessly interface at all times.
Error management utilising the positive traits of diversity leads to enhanced safety and positive ethos among staff and customers
Human error in the high-risk airline industry is inevitable (Helmreich et al., 2001, p.3). The lack of a strong monolithic culture and the existence of diverse cultures inevitably lead to further increased risk factors. An additional influence on the overall situation is the existence of subcultures in the industry in the way of beliefs, values and norms, attitudes and behaviours that are shared and actively participated in by minorities within a particular culture. Diversity and subcultures, possessing strong cohesive bonding, can pose major risk factors if left unchecked, thus compromising safety and efficiency (Figure 2A).
As a counter-offensive, it is at the level of organizational culture that the greatest influence can be brought to bear so that a comprehensive safety culture can be nourished (Helmreich, 1999). With proper exploitation of strengths within the various national and professional cultures including the subcultures; the airline industry, namely the organisation can benefit as a whole. An enhanced safety culture results in an efficient industry devoid of accidents (Figure 2B).
The results will always be a positive ethos in the arena of safety for the consumer, with secondary positive results for all airline employees in the way of job satisfaction leading to a self driven loop of safety and internalization complementing each other perpetually. Controlling diversity is hence enhancing a safety culture within the industry benefiting all.
The uniqueness of the airline industry compels it to identify threats before they develop into full blown disasters. Line Operations Safety Audits (LOSA) conducted by various research teams subjecting flight crew have come up with data to identify these threats prior to coming up with threat management programmes (Klinect et al., 1999). The very fact that flight crew, comprising of various ethnicities and behaviour, is subjected to surveys and observations, compels the industry to consider diversity when conducting the all important LOSA exercises. The test results thus derived can be fed into threat and error management systems that are once again utilised by an industry rich in diversity. Therefore tests compiled after looking through the lenses of diversity, have in turn had their results poured in to the same industry for its own enrichment.
Understanding and managing diversity are of strategic value to the airline industry
Human beings and thereby personnel in the industry bring in their own history and multiple cultural memberships with them to their jobs (Helmreich & Merritt, 1998, p.120). Variety is therefore omnipresent. The existence of sub-cultures, multi-ethnicity and varied nationalities due to the very characteristics of the industry compelled the industry even in the past to consider operations and administration with multi-culture forming a background. With diversity being studied and understood for what it is, the integrated organisational culture (Helmreich & Merritt, 1998, p.121) has to be implemented for strategic reasons. An integrated organisational culture will encompass a strong corporate identity, a positive organisational climate and high employee morale – all traits leading to a positive impact on service and safety (Helmreich & Merritt, 1998, p.122). Respecting individual cultures and sub-cultures when dealing with managerial affairs have borne fruit for airlines such as Continental, Southwest and US Airways, if the recent past is considered. Diversity that has sprung up due to a varied industry therefore enhances the industry strategically if treated with respect!
Airlines, without exception, depend on repeat customers for regular payloads. Loyalty programmes and frequency flyer points are some of the many methods the industry utilizes to lock customers in. Repeat customers contribute to seeing airlines through into profit zones. Therefore it is also crucial for the industry to consider diversity among passengers in this era of globalisation (Flight International, 2005, p. 113). Comfort on flights, food served, entertainment offered and the types of duty-free items offered on flights are crucial factors in building a strong and loyal clientele base. The industry therefore in this era of deregulation should also understand customer diversity as all characteristics associated with human behaviour and airline employees affect passengers too!
A good diversity management programme is a prelude to the all important CRM programmes and beyond
Crew Resource Management (CRM) is today a vastly modified and refined subject of importance that is recognised almost universally (Orlady & Orlady, 1999, p.269). Training modules of CRM have been credited with altering the behaviour (and thereby their professional culture) of senior US airline pilots for the better (Helmreich & Merritt, 1998, p. 39). As a result, the US has made it mandatory since 1998 for even flight dispatchers and flight attendants to be trained in CRM. Helmreich (1999) further states that organisations preparing to build a safety culture should initially ensure that training comprising of ‘threat recognition’, ‘error avoidance’ and ‘management strategies’ be instilled in flight crews; training subjects, which are defined as CRM in the industry. Since a ‘safety culture’ is nurtured and ‘management strategies’ derived utilising diversity as the all important base, it is important to state that the success of a good CRM programme is always dependent on possessing good diversity management programmes (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Relationship between CRM and Diversity
Airline companies should be compelled to have diversity management programmes
Diversity as defined and evaluated in this report is a crucial ingredient in the airline industry given the industry’s unique inherent and external characteristics. As every aspect ranging from safety culture, efficiency, strategic visions to personnel training is considered and analysed through the lens of diversity, it should be the norm rather than the exception that airline companies have ‘diversity management’ that can be considered ‘the mother of all programmes’. The crucial discussion should not be whether diversity management programmes are required but how intensive the programmes should be! There will invariably be resistance to implementation but it is prudent that authorities stand firm on this issue. (Scepticism was expressed 15 years back when CRM training programmes were introduced!)
Conclusions
1.1
The airline industry stands to gain strategically if diversity is managed on a perpetual basis. Employee satisfaction and customer loyalty are some of the benefits. It has been proven that airlines prosper when diversity is understood, considered and managed properly.
1.2
Diversity management programmes are a prelude to the introduction of other safety and efficiency enhancing programmes such as Crew Resource Management.
1.3
Positive traits of diversity correctly utilised form bedrock on which the industry’s safety culture is built.
1.4
Diversity is the result of various behaviour patterns human beings possess. Various forms of culture and sub-cultures further increase and complicate diversity. Although diversity is common to all organisations and industries, it spans a broader spectrum in the airline industry, due to the industry’s inherent characteristics.
1.5
It is crucial in the high-risk airline industry to control diversity. The essence is to harness the omni-present diversity for the benefit of the industry.
1.6
Diversity management is crucial even if foreign nationals are absent from an airline’s workforce.
References
Flight International, (2005, April 5-11). Working week. Focus on Cultural Training, p. 113.
Helmreich, R.L. (in press). Culture, threat and error: Assessing system safety. In Safety in aviation: The management commitment: Proceedings of a conference. London: Royal Aeronautical Society.
Helmreich, R.L. (1999). Building safety on the three cultures of aviation. In Proceedings of the IATA human factors seminar (pp.39-43). Bangkok, Thailand, August 12, 1998.
Helmreich, R.L. & Merrit, A. C. (1998). Culture at work in aviation and medicine. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Helmreich, R.L., Wilhelm, J.A., Klinect, J.R. & Merrit, A.C. (2001). Culture, error and crew resource management. In E. Salas, C.A. Bowers & E. Edens (Eds.), Improving teamwork in organizations (pp.305-331). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Klinect, J.R., Wilhelm, J.A. & Helmreich, R.L. (1999). Threat and error management: Data from line operations safety audits. In Proceedings of the tenth international Symposium on aviation psychology (pp. 683-688). Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University.
Maurino, D. E., Reason, J., Johnston, N. & Lee, R. B. (1995). Beyond aviation human factors. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Orlady, H.W. & Orlady, L.M. (1999). Human factors in multi-crew flight operations. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Appendix A
The four dimensions within the National culture
Hofstedte (1980, 1991), (cited in Helmreich et al,. 2001) mentions of a four dimensional model of national culture within the flight deck, thereby common to the industry.
Power distance:
The acceptance by subordinates of unequal power relationships, where statements indicating that juniors should not question the decisions and actions of their superiors.
Individualism-Collectivism:
Defines the differences between individualistic cultures where people define situations in terms of costs and benefits for themselves and more collectivist ones where the focus is on harmony within one’s primary group.
Uncertainty Avoidance:
The extent to which people in a culture become uncomfortable in unstructured, ambiguous situations and try to avoid such situations by strict rules of behaviour and intolerance of deviants. I.e. they will not break rules even in the organisation’s best interest.
Masculinity versus femininity:
In masculine cultures, men are expected to be ambitious, strong and big whereas women are expected to care and serve.
In feminine cultures, both sexes are expected to be modest, non-competitive and sympathize with whatever is small and weak.