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Author(s):
Chris Argyris
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Human Dimensions of Fire Management
Organizational Learning & Innovation
Risk

NRFSN number: 15810
Record updated:

Organizations often suffer because workers and managers avoid embarrassment by turning a blind eye toward mistakes. This book focuses on errors that are consciously buried in order to avoid situations that might damage individual reputations. Using examples from businesses across the United States and government errors like the Challenger disaster, Argyris highlights the processes that produce and generate error in organizations. He then offers solutions to reduce error by minimizing the tendency of organizations to become defensive about errors that make them or their managers look bad. Lastly, Argyris addresses how to apply these solutions in actual practice. This book has direct application for managers interested in understanding how errors develop from organizationally defensive reactions and how to resolve them in productive ways.

Citation

Argyris Chris. 1990. Overcoming organizational defenses: facilitating organizational learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 180 p.

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