Citation

Jing HS. Hum. Factors Aerosp. Safety 2004; 4(2): 131-143.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Ashgate Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The goal of this research is to find and describe the manifestation of Chinese differentiated order regarding interpersonal hierarchical relationships in the cockpit. It is agreed upon by the civil aviation community that the interaction between crew members in the cockpit influences flight performance and consequently safety. From the results of a large scale survey funded by the Aviation Safety Council concerning the performance of Crew Resource Management training in Taiwan, human relationships and their interactions between crew members were studied. To the Chinese people, guanxi, (i.e. human relations) is thought to be a valuable resource. To make the best use of it, human relations have to be categorised carefully and precisely. Based on the traditional Chinese differentiated order with self at the centre describing the structure of human relationships, a new four level differentiated order model has been proposed. From the statistical results, the basic structure of kin/acquaintance/fellow/alien in the minds of the local (Chinese) captains has been shown to be significantly different from the international (non-Chinese) average. This reveals a categorical difference in the way Chinese people manage human resources. In addition to this, a scale is also used by the Chinese to face various situations regarding human relations and personal interactions. This is the family/outsider scale. It is expected that the model proposed here can be used to help in understanding the dynamics of Chinese guanxi in the cockpit, and therefore promote global aviation safety.