Ten Years after A Major Malfunction...

Abstract

This article reviews the insights gleaned frommore than 10 years of instruction and lead ership/organizational development consulting with the Challenger case study. Little known facts about the case (including serious questions about the veracity of the Rogers Commission report) and reasons for continued intense interest in the subject are provided. Seven key elements of “the Challenger syndrome” are presented, pinpointing existing bureaucratic imperatives as a primary obstacle to the exercise of leadership and ethical decision making. Central insights for organizational leaders are reviewed, including the blinders of “corporate masculinity” and the fact that Challenger was neither an example of groupthink nor an example of excessive risk taking. The article closes with 10 central leadership lessons from the Challenger case study.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bell, T. , & Esch, K. (1987). The fatal flaw in Flight 51-L. IEEE Spectrum, 24(2), 36-51.

Blanchard, K. , & O’Connor, M. (1997). Managing by values. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Brittain, J. , & Sitkin, S. (1989). Facts, figures, and organizational decisions: Carter racing. Organizational Behavior Teaching Review, 14(1), 62-81.

Cook, R. (1986, March 16). Why I blew the whistle on NASA’s O’ring woes. The Washington Post, pp. D1-D2.

Covey, S. (1991). Principle-centered leadership. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Frick, D. , & Spears, L. (Eds.). (1996). On becoming a servant leader: The private writings of Robert K. Greenleaf. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gardner, J. (1990). On leadership. New York: Free Press.

Helgesen, S. (1995). The web of inclusion: A new architecture for building great organizations. New York: Doubleday.

Johnson, T. (2001). Manage by means, not results. Systems Thinker, 12(6), 1-5.

10.

Lewin, R. , & Regine, B. (2000). The soul at work: Embracing complexity science for business success. New York: Simon & Schuster.

11.

Maier, M. (1994). Challenger: The path to disaster. Case Research Journal, 14(1), 1-49; 150-155.

12.

Maier, M. (1997a). Confronting the (f)laws of the pyramid: Challenger ’s legacy for leadership and organizational development. Public Administration Quarterly, 21(3), 258-293.

13.

Maier, M. (1997b). We have to make a MANagement decision: Challenger and the dysfunctions of corporate masculinity. In P. Prasad , A. Mills , A. Prasad , & M. Elmes (Eds.), Managing the organizational melting pot (pp. 226-254). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

14.

Maier, M. (1998). Promoting organizational and scholarly transformation: Lessons from the creation of the Challenger videocase. Journal of Management Development, 17(4), 273-293.

15.

Maier, M. (1999). On the gendered substructure of organization: Dimensions and dilemmas of corporate masculinity. In G. Powell (Ed.), The handbook of gender in organizations (pp. 69-93). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

16.

Maier, M. (2000). “Amajor malfunction...” The story behind the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (A pedagogical documentary about organizational politics, ethics, and decision making). Albany: Research Foundation of the State University of New York. (3-part videotape instructional module available through the author). (Original work published 1992)

17.

McConnell, M. (1987). Challenger: A major malfunction. New York: Doubleday.

18.

Rogers, W. (1986). Report by the Presidential Commission on the Shuttle Challenger accident. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

19.

Spears, L. (1995). Reflections on leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant-leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers. New York: John Wiley.

20.

Transcript reveals launch controllers waived Challenger temperature warnings. (1986). Aviation Week and Space Technology, 51-52.

21.

Trento, J. , & Trento, S. (1987). Prescription for disaster. New York: Crown.

22.

Vaughan, D. (1996). The Challenger launch decision: Risky technology, culture and deviance at NASA. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

23.

Wheatley, M. , & Kellner-Rogers, M. (1996). A simpler way. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.