The AVAC-COM Communication Model and Taxonomy: Results from Application to Aviation Safety Events

Communication problems are acknowledged as hazardous eventualities affecting operations negatively. However, a few systematic attempts have been made to understand the pattern of communication issues and their contribution to safety events. In this paper, we present the AVAC-COM communication model and taxonomy based on the cybernetics approach and a literature review. The model elements and taxonomy variables regard the actors, signals, coders, interference, direction and timing, predictability, decoders, and channels. To test the applicability and potential value of the AVAC-COM framework, we analysed 103 safety investigation reports from aviation published between 1997 and 2016 by the respective authorities of Canada, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The overall results of the 256 cases of communication flaws detected in the reports suggested that these regarded more frequently Human-Media and Human-Human interactions, verbal and local communications as well as unfamiliarity of the receivers with the messages transmitted. Further statistical tests revealed associations of the region, time period, event severity and operations type with various variables of the AVAC-COM taxonomy. Although the findings are only indicative, they showed the potential of the AVAC-COM model and taxonomy to be used to identify strong and weak communication elements and relationships in documented data such as investigation and hazard reports

Tension in the air:Behind the scenes of aviation risk management

On July 25, 2015, Air Trac Control (ATC) radio communication went viral on YouTube (ATC audio, n.d.) featuring a Dutch airline jet that encountered a wind shear-an abrupt change of wind direction. One of the pilots was heard exclaiming “Scary!" and “Speed, speed, speed!" The air trac controller warned the pilots that they were accidentally broadcasting their private talking over the radio frequency, but for some reason the captain was heard on the radio again, coaching the copilot: “You’ve own really well, I just wanted to say that.” The aircraft made a go-around and then landed low on fuel, having already diverted from another airport due to bad weather. While this information might typically only have ended up in an anonymous reporting database, the cockpit scare now spread via YouTube to national news media and even debates in parliament (AD, 2015, 30 July). Despite the upheaval, the Dutch Safety Board subsequently responded that there would be no investigation, because the event was too regular to learn anything new (AD, 2015, 2 September)

The AVAC-COM communication model and taxonomy: results from application to aviation safety events

Communication problems are acknowledged as hazardous eventualities affecting operations negatively. However, a few systematic attempts have been made to understand the pattern of communication issues and their contribution to safety events. In this paper, we present the AVAC-COM communication model and taxonomy based on the cybernetics approach and a literature review. The model elements and taxonomy variables regard the actors, signals, coders, interference, direction and timing, predictability, decoders, and channels. To test the applicability and potential value of the AVAC-COM framework, we analysed 103 safety investigation reports from aviation published between 1997 and 2016 by the respective authorities of Canada, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The overall results of the 256 cases of communication flaws detected in the reports suggested that these regarded more frequently Human-Media and Human-Human interactions, verbal and local communications as well as unfamiliarity of the receivers with the messages transmitted. Further statistical tests revealed associations of the region, time period, event severity and operations type with various variables of the AVAC-COM taxonomy. Although the findings are only indicative, they showed the potential of the AVAC-COM model and taxonomy to be used to identify strong and weak communication elements and relationships in documented data such as investigation and hazard reports

The Chinese are taking over: Chinese small entrepreneurs in the Cayo District of Belize

The transnational entrepreneurship debate discusses the economic and entrepreneurial consequences of transnational relations and trade for ethnic entrepreneurs. The multi-ethnic society of Belize is an example where transnationalism is an important factor because of its implications for the history, roots, and future of ethnic entrepreneurs. Our case study of ethnically Chinese entrepreneurs points to the shadow of ethnic entrepreneurship that is in danger of being forgotten in the more business and politically oriented discussions about transnationalism. In a national context, where a discourse of Chinese transnational influence has developed, locally-based ethnically Chinese entrepreneurs appear to be subject to stereotyping and stigmatisation. Chinese entrepreneurs’ real embedding in transnational networks may be unclear and may be easy targets for gossip and unwarranted generalisation. We thus argue that the investigating a local, rural context may reveal the ambiguous social consequences of economic prosperity brought about by transnationalism

Contextualising ethnic minority entrepreneurship beyond the west: Insights from Belize and Cambodia

Purpose: Literature on immigrant and ethnic minority entrepreneurship almost exclusively focusses on the west, while neglecting other world regions. This neglect is problematic not only because international migration is on the rise outside the west, but also because it reveals an implicit ethnocentrism and creates particular presumptions about the nature of ethnic minority entrepreneurship that may not be as universally valid as is often presumed. The purpose of this paper is to examine ethnic minority entrepreneurship in non-western contexts to critically assess two of these presumptions, namely that it occurs in the economic margins and within clear ethnic community boundaries. Design/methodology/approach: The authors draw on academic literature (including the authors’ own) to develop two case descriptions of ethnic minority entrepreneurship outside the west: the Mennonites in Belize and the Chinese in Cambodia. For each case, the authors describe the historic entrepreneurial trajectory, i.e. the historical emergence of entrepreneurship in light of relevant community and society contexts. Findings: The two cases reveal that, in contrast to characterisations of ethnic minority entrepreneurship in the west, the Mennonites in Belize and the Chinese in Cambodia have come to comprise the economic upper class, and their business activities are not confined to ethnic community boundaries. Originality/value: The paper is the first to elaborate the importance of studying ethnic minority entrepreneurship outside the west, both as an aim in itself and as a catalyst to work towards a more neutral framework

Preparing to be Unprepared: Training for Resilience

Training methods for operators working under high pressure and in dynamic, unpredictable settings could benefit from a focus on resilience. In such settings, formal training often focuses on procedural conformity to train for particular scenarios, but resilient performance taps into a wider experience base and often more tacit skills. In this paper, we formulate a research agenda to develop useful theoretical insights about training for resilience. Our discussion follows recent developments on organizational routines, which suggest that sources of inertia and conformity, such as strict procedural training, can also enable operators’ resourcefulness. Drawing from our diverse research experiences, we discuss the training needs for 1) developing or attenuating techniques for flexible procedural use, grounded in a rich qualitative understanding of practical experience; 2) the possibility to train skills that are more broadly applicable than specific training scenarios through simulation training methods; and 3) the development of training programs based on knowledge of “work-as-done” through Agent Based Modelling and Simulation methodologies and behavioral theories

Preparing to be Unprepared: Training for Resilience

Training methods for operators working under high pressure and in dynamic, unpredictable settings could benefit from a focus on resilience. In such settings, formal training often focuses on procedural conformity to train for particular scenarios, but resilient performance taps into a wider experience base and often more tacit skills. In this paper, we formulate a research agenda to develop useful theoretical insights about training for resilience. Our discussion follows recent developments on organizational routines, which suggest that sources of inertia and conformity, such as strict procedural training, can also enable operators’ resourcefulness. Drawing from our diverse research experiences, we discuss the training needs for 1) developing or attenuating techniques for flexible procedural use, grounded in a rich qualitative understanding of practical experience; 2) the possibility to train skills that are more broadly applicable than specific training scenarios through simulation training methods; and 3) the development of training programs based on knowledge of “work-as-done” through Agent Based Modelling and Simulation methodologies and behavioral theories