| Safety management is a major issue in the aviation industry and professionals in the field of aviation safety management have only recently begun to use advanced business management practices to address viable ways to determine the cost of safety initiatives in this complex environment. Research on different modeling efforts related to safety performance evaluation indicated the financial implications of aviation safety programs have not been addressed to determine the actual benefits or losses on such an investment. The problem addressed in this study was safety management system (SMS) programs have not always been implemented in the aviation industry, as actual program costs could not be determined comprehensively and definitively. In this study, participants identified key factors that were used to develop a decision support system framework for SMS program cost estimation. A descriptive qualitative method was used and included a purposeful sample of a Delphi panel of four aviation management experts in project management and cost analysis for project planning who were queried across three rounds of structured inquiry procedures. The data derived from the study addressed the need for a management decision-making model for SMS cost estimation that is conceptually grounded in quality management principles. Data analysis included Delphi stability analysis, as well as familiarization, identification, indexing, charting, and mapping. From these analyses, a decision support framework for SMS program cost estimation was revealed. The study used activity based costing principles to develop SMS cost estimation tools that could be used by decision makers prior to SMS program implementation. Three recommendations were offered for professional practice: (a) rulemaking (regulatory) improvements that will support the quality of data available for research, (b) improvements to guidance material that will support SMS program strategies, and (c) information technology (IT) improvements that will support future analysis of benefits of SMS programs. Four recommendations for future research were offered: (a) links of safety initiatives to business advantage, (b) barriers to the collection of financial data, (c) case studies for empirical evidence of program costs, and (d) theoretical development. |
