Commonalities, conflicts and contradictions in organizational masculinities: Exploring the gendered genesis of the challenger disaster

Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology

Volumn 35, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 325-344

  Maier, Mark ^a   Messerschmidt, James W ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT; ARTICLE; AUTHORITY; DECISION MAKING; EQUIPMENT; FEMALE; GOVERNMENT; GROUP PROCESS; HIGH RISK BEHAVIOR; HUMAN; INSTRUMENTATION; LEADERSHIP; MALE; ORGANIZATION; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; PERSONALITY; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; PUBLIC RELATIONS; SEX DIFFERENCE; SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT; SPACE FLIGHT; UNITED STATES;

ACCIDENTS, AVIATION; AUTHORITARIANISM; DECISION MAKING; EQUIPMENT FAILURE; FEMALE; GROUP PROCESSES; HUMANS; INTERPROFESSIONAL RELATIONS; LEADERSHIP; MALE; MEN; ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE; ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES; PERSONALITY; RISK-TAKING; SEX CHARACTERISTICS; SEX FACTORS; SPACE FLIGHT; SPACECRAFT; UNITED STATES; UNITED STATES NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION;

EID: 0032130620     PISSN: 00084948     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-618x.1998.tb00726.x     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. Acker, J. 1992. "Gendering organizational theory." In Gendering Organizational Analysis. A.J. Mills and P. Tancred (eds.). Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, pp. 248-60.
2. Arch, E.C. 1993. "Risk-taking: A motivational basis for sex differences." Psychological Reports, Vol. 73, pp. 3-11.
3. Bell, T.E. and K. Esch. 1987. "The fatal flaw in flight 51-L." IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Spectrum, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 36-51.
4. Boisjoly, R.M. 1991. "Ethical decision-making in organizations: Morton Thiokol and the space shuttle Challenger disaster." GTE Lectureship on Technology and Ethics. Binghamton, N.Y., April 18.
5. Bowser, H. 1987. "Maestros of technology." Invention and Technology (Summer), pp. 24-30.
6. Cheng, C. (ed.). 1996. Masculinities in Organizations. Newbury Park: Sage.
7. Cockburn, C. 1985. Machinery of Dominance: Women, Men and Technological Knowhow. London: Pluto Press.
8. Cockburn, C. and S. Ormrod. 1993. Gender and Technology in the Making. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage.
9. Collinson, D. and J. Hearn. 1994. "Naming men as men: Implications for work, organization and management." Gender, Work and Organization, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 2-22.
10. Collinson, D. and J. Hearn (eds.). 1996. Men as Managers, Managers as Men. London: Sage.
11. Connell, R.W. 1995. Masculinities. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of Calif. Press.
12. Connell, R.W. 1987. Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
13. Dubinskas, F.A. 1988. "Janus organizations: Scientists and managers in genetic engineering firms." In Making Time: Ethnographies of High Technology Organizations. F.A. Dubinskas (ed.). Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Pr., pp. 170-232.
14. Ferguson, K.E. 1984. The Feminist Case against Bureaucracy. Philadelphia: Temple University Pr.
15. Florman, S.C. 1976. The Existential Pleasures of Engineering. New York: St. Martin's.
16. Gouran, D., R. Hirokawa and A. Martz. 1986. "A critical analysis of factors related to decisional processes involved in the Challenger disaster." Central States Speech Journal, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 119-35.
17. Hearn, J. 1987. The Gender of Oppression: Men, Masculinity and the Critique of Marxism. New York: St. Martin's.
18. Hearn, J. 1992. "Changing men and changing managements: A review of issues and actions." Women in Management Review and Abstracts, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 3-8.
19. Hearn, J. and D. Morgan (eds.). 1990. Men, Masculinities and Social Theory. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
20. Hacker, S. 1989. Pleasure, Power, and Technology. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
21. Kanter, R.M. 1977. Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic.
22. Kerfoot, D. and D. Knights. 1996. "The best is yet to come?': The quest for embodiment in managerial work." In Men as Managers, Managers as Men. D. Collinson and J. Hearn (eds.). London: Sage, pp. 78-98.
23. Kerfoot, D. and D. Knights. 1993. "Management, masculinity and manipulation: From paternalism to corporate strategy in financial services in Britain." Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 659-77.
24. Kovach, K. and B. Render. 1987. "NASA managers and Challenger: A profile and possible explanation." Personnel, Vol. 64, No. 4, pp. 40-44.
25. Maier, M. 1994. "Challenger: The path to disaster." Case Research Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 1-49.
26. Maier, M. 1992. A Major Malfunction . . . The Story Behind the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. A Pedagogical. Documentary about Organizational Politics, Ethics and Decision-Making. [Videotape and Instructional Materials] Albany, N.Y.: The Research Foundation of the State University of New York.
27. McConnell, M. 1987. Challenger: A Major Malfunction. New York: Doubleday.
28. Messerschmidt, J.W. 1993. Masculinities and Crime. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield.
29. Morgan, D.H.J. 1992. Discovering Men. New York: Routledge.
30. O'Brien. M. 1995. Profit from Experience: How to Make the Most of Your Learning and Your Life. Austin, Tex.: Bard Press.
31. Perrow, C. 1984. Normal Accidents: Living with High Risk Technologies. New York: Basic.
32. Presidential Commission. 1986. Report on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
33. Renz, M. and J. Greg. 1988. "Flaws in the decision making process: Assessment of risk in the decision to launch Flight 51-L." Central States Speech Journal, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 67-75.
34. Schwartz, H. 1987. "On the psychodynamics of organizational disaster: The case of the space shuttle Challenger." Columbia Journal of World Business, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 59-67.
35. Seidler, V.J. 1989. Rediscovering Masculinity: Reason, Language and Sexuality. London: Routledge.
36. Starbuck, W. and F. Milliken. 1988. "Challenger: Fine-tuning the odds until something breaks." Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 319-40.
37. Toison, A. 1977. The Limits of Masculinity. New York: Harper and Row.
38. Vaughan, D. 1989."Regulating risk: Implications of the Challenger accident." Law and Policy, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 330-49.
39. Vaughan, D. 1990. "Autonomy, interdependence and social control: NASA and the space shuttle Challenger." Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 225-57.
40. Vaughan, D. 1996. The Challenger Launch Decision. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr.
41. Wajcman, J. 1991. Feminism Confronts Technology. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State Univ. Pr.
42. Westrum, R. 1987. "Management strategies and information failure." In Information Systems: Failure Analysis. J.A. Wise and A. Debons (eds.). NATO ASI Series. F (32). Berlin: Springer, pp. 109-27.
43. Westrum, R. 1986. "Vulnerable technologies: Accident, crime and terrorism." Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 386-91.