Work functions shaping the ability to innovate: insights from the case of the safety engineer

Abstract

To perform as intended, firms are divided into work functions that contribute to the behaviour-shaping constraints under which individuals build their skills, knowledge and networks. These in turn provide a specialized perspective on organisational structure and culture. In a mixed methods study involving interviews and statistical analyses, we investigate whether a work function can thereby affect individuals' innovation foci and efficacy. Safety engineers, central to firms developing Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), are shown to play a significant role in identifying and supporting viable innovation related to organisational aspects. Results indicate that safety engineers could use the firm's collaborative innovation process to facilitate organisational learning, helping different work functions come together to construct working practices aligned with the organisational values of the firm. This is explained by their understanding of safety culture-a specialized understanding of organisational culture and complexity provided by their work function. We conclude that work functions that provide their members with a perspective well aligned with their firm's organisational values can instil the ability to identify and support organisational innovation. This suggests that safety engineers in CPS domains could be effective in a mediatory role, facilitating innovative changes to organisational structures and processes when introducing and operating safety management systems. Stronger aspects of organisational liaising and systems thinking could reinforce this ability-the former by a wider scope and motivation leading to an increased skill in communicating with dissimilar individuals, and the latter by providing the skills and tools needed to analyse the politics of complex organisations.

Can digital finance boost SME innovation by easing financing constraints?: Evidence from Chinese GEM-listed companies

“…Even if companies disclose information, the details are scarce, which results in high regulatory costs for external investors, further exacerbating the already existing information asymmetry and ultimately making it more difficult for companies to raise funds from external financial institutions [ 42 ]. It is now widely accepted in industry and academia that financing constraints significantly reduce firms’ ability to innovate and that a well-developed, multilevel financial system will help to alleviate financing constraints on firms, as well as to lift them out of financial distress, thus helping to increase their willingness to innovate [ 43 , 44 ]. Digital finance, as a new financial industry, effectively fills in the gaps in the traditional financial system, and will hopefully reduce the level of corporate financing constraints and further stimulate corporate innovation in the following ways.…”

The impact of knowledge brokering and role crafting on work engagement: a two-wave panel survey of older Japanese workers

“…Examples of knowledge integration based on communities of practice include engineers, site supervisors and main contractors (Gherardi and Nicolini, 2002); school teachers, researchers and industry members (Moore et al. , 2019); and safety engineers (Asplund and Ulfvengren, 2021).…”

“…This not only contributes to the organisation but also expands the individual's perspective. In this context, individuals who engage in knowledge brokering seek to actively integrate diversity rather than simply acknowledge it and accept its differences for what they are (Asplund and Ulfvengren, 2021;Ishiyama, 2016;Moore et al, 2019). This feature of knowledge brokering, which involves interacting with diverse others and reframing (reconsidering fixed ideas from a new perspective) cognition to integrate diversity, is assumed to be highly related to the relationship between interacting with others and cognitive change in SST and SOC theory and relational and cognitive crafting in job crafting.…”

“…This not only contributes to the organisation but also expands the individual's perspective. In this context, individuals who engage in knowledge brokering seek to actively integrate diversity rather than simply acknowledge it and accept its differences for what they are (Asplund and Ulfvengren, 2021; Ishiyama, 2016; Moore et al. , 2019).…”

Engineer-Centred Design Factors and Methodological Approach for Maritime Autonomy Emergency Response Systems

“…Although less is known about this role [68], it is mostly informal and as such will rely on the work context of particular engineering disciplines. The work context of safety engineers has, for instance, been identified as leading to a specialized understanding of organisational culture that will help the understanding of how to improve organisational structures and processes [69]. Human-centred design factors for maritime autonomy are thus likely to be engineer-centred design factors for improving the abilities of gatekeepers and organisational liaisons.…”