| This study applied and extended Karl Weick's five processes of mindfulness to a non-high reliability organization (non-HRO). The study explore whether and to what extent the Five processes of mindfulness may be enacted and maintained in a non-HRO, with a particular emphasis on the communicative elements of enactment and maintenance. It also developed and described a preliminary, theoretical model of mindfulness in non-HROs.;Reactive management practices and communicative patterns, as well as the frequency with which "firefighting events" occurred were found to have the greatest impact on the ability of a non-HRO to enact and maintain a level of organizational mindfulness.;In this study, five research questions were developed to explore the communicative elements of enactment and maintenance of mindfulness in a non-HRO. Additionally, a sixth research question was developed to examine the relationship between basic quality management and organizational mindfulness. This study employed qualitative research methods, including semi-structured, in-depth interviews, long-term participant observation, and examination of organizational artifacts. In total, 9 members of a non-HRO were interviewed, spanning various levels of a large healthcare technology provider organization. Furthermore, the researcher spent 14 months within the organization gathering observational data and reviewing organizational artifacts. Evidence of various levels of enactment and maintenance of the processes of mindfulness were found. Furthermore, several factors that influence enactment and maintenance were identified and the relationships among them were captured, including estimated strengths and causal directions. Theoretical models of enactment and maintenance of each of the five processes of mindfulness in a non-HRO, as well as an overall model of enactment and maintenance of mindfulness in a non-HRO, were also developed. An additional model, depicting the relationship between basic quality management and organizational mindfulness was also developed. |
