Validating the Indicators and Dimensions of Organizational Reliability in Management Faculties of Public Universities in Tehran

Operational failures observed in organizations originate from factors such as incomplete or inappropriate actions, mindless organizational responses to environmental demands, and unexpected events like unforeseen threats, product malfunction, supplier collapse, technology breakdowns, and so on. Consequently, reliability which is the capacity to continuously and effectively manage fluctuating, hazardous, and unpredictable working condition is considered ad a critical organizational competency.

Weick & Sutcliffe (2008) implemented their 48-item organizational reliability questionnaire in the nuclear power plant of America and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. They reached a five-factor structure encompassing sensitivity to operations, preoccupation with failure, commitment to resilience, deference to expertise, and reluctance to simplify interpretations. If your organization receives a score below 12 indicates that it should actively improve the reliability capacity as well as focus on failure. If the score is from 12 to 20, the organization has a moderate preoccupation with success rather than a fully mindful preoccupation with failure. Scores above 20 indicate a high capacity for organizational reliability. Weick and Sutcliffe’s (2008) findings are similar to the dimensionality of Weick and Sutcliffe’s (2001) questionnaire.