Theses and Dissertations
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8734-5663
Advisor
Smith, Brian K.
Committee Member
Strawderman, Lesley
Committee Member
Wang, Haifeng
Committee Member
Ma, Junfeng
Date of Degree
12-12-2025
Original embargo terms
Visible MSU Only 2 Years
Document Type
Dissertation - Campus Access Only
Major
Industrial and Systems Engineering
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
College
James Worth Bagley College of Engineering
Department
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Abstract
Our research purpose is to examine how perceptions of organizational learning capabilities and individual systems thinking competencies are related and how they influence safety performance at Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory operating facilities. Due to the limited number of facilities in the study, synergistic effects between organizational learning and systems thinking upon safety performance cannot be evaluated. The study of synergistic effects would require data from scores of facilities to be able to discern differences in performance with reasonable statistical power; therefore, the conceptual model assumed in chapters 2 and 3 is that organizational learning and systems thinking operate independently on safety performance. Safety performance (SP) is proposed to be a function of both organizational learning (OL) and systems thinking (ST) competencies and how well facilities apply systems thinking tenets to their operations. Their effects on safety performance will be evaluated individually using regression techniques. Nonparametric analyses will be used due to the limited number of responses from several sampled facilities. The relationship between perceptions of organizational learning and systems thinking competencies will be evaluated using the Pearson coefficient. In chapter 4, we explore the potential relationship between perceptions of organizational learning capabilities and individual perceptions of systems thinking competencies as a function of the demographic variables of respondent age, gender, and years of work experience. This dissertation contributes to an understanding of the relationship between perceptions of organizational learning capabilities and perceptions of individual systems thinking competencies and their effects on facility safety performance. The unique nature of the research method is that it involves the simultaneous acquisition of survey data on perceptions of both organizational learning capabilities and systems thinking competencies.
Recommended Citation
Schaefer, Charles W., "Is there a connection between perceptions of organizational learning capability, systems thinking competencies and safety performance at a research institution? A Department of Energy national laboratory case study" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 6759.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/6759
