Inside NASA: High Technology and Organizational Change in the U.S. Space Program
Inside NASA explores how an agency praised for its planetary probes and expeditions to the moon became notorious for the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger and a series of other malfunctions. Using archival evidence as well as in-depth interviews with space agency officials, Howard McCurdy investigates the relationship between the performance of the American space program and NASA's organizational culture. He begins by identifying the beliefs, norms, and practices that guided NASA's...
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Inside NASA explores how an agency praised for its planetary probes and expeditions to the moon became notorious for the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger and a series of other malfunctions. Using archival evidence as well as in-depth interviews with space agency officials, Howard McCurdy investigates the relationship between the performance of the American space program and NASA's organizational culture. He begins by identifying the beliefs, norms, and practices that guided NASA's early successes. Originally, the agency was dominated by the strong technical culture rooted in the research-and-development organizations from which NASA was formed. To launch the expeditions to the moon, McCurdy explains, this technical culture was linked to an organizational structure borrowed from the Air Force ballistic-missile program. Changes imposed to accomplish the lunar landing — along with the normal aging process and increased bureaucracy in the government as a whole — gradually eroded NASA's original culture and reduced its technical strength. Booknews Explores how an agency praised for its planetary probes and expeditions to the Moon became noted for the Challenger explosion and a series of other malfunctions. Using archival evidence as well as interviews with agency officials, the author investigates the relationship between the performance of the US space program and NASA's organizational culture. He concludes that, given the conditions of modern government, the performance of high-technology agencies like NASA inherently tends to decline. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: NASA's Organizational Culture11Building Blocks11The Research Laboratories11The Rocket Engineers14Human Space Flight17The Science Centers20A Confederation of Cultures222Root Assumptions25Research and Testing26In-House Technical Capability34Hands-On Experience42Exceptional People503Breaking Barriers61Risk and Failure61Frontier Mentality71The First Generation784Becoming Conventional90Organizing for Apollo91Aging and Organizational Chance99Decreasing Flexibility106Increasing Bureaucracy111Growing More Conservative118Fighting for Survival124Weakening Organization1295Losing the Technical Culture133Contracting Out134Going Operational141Flight Testing146Risk and Technology150The Distance Thesis and Exceptional Employees155Conclusion: Governmental Performance and Cultural instability159NASA's Original Culture160Organizational Culture and Change163Culture and Performance172Appendix: NASA Culture Survey175Essay on Sources185Notes193Index209
\ NatureMcCurdy is surely on the right track. His valuable book makes the literature on organizational cultures accessible and reveals new ways to look at high-technology agencies.\ \ \ \ \ BooknewsExplores how an agency praised for its planetary probes and expeditions to the Moon became noted for the Challenger explosion and a series of other malfunctions. Using archival evidence as well as interviews with agency officials, the author investigates the relationship between the performance of the US space program and NASA's organizational culture. He concludes that, given the conditions of modern government, the performance of high-technology agencies like NASA inherently tends to decline. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \
