What Aviation Safety Teams Can Learn from Don Arendt’s Organizational Culture Model

Understanding Aviation Safety Culture in Organizations

In aviation safety, the term safety culture is frequently mentioned, but what does it really mean in practice? More importantly, how can an organization manage its culture to improve safety outcomes?

To answer this, we turn to Don Arendt’s “Model of Organizational Culture”, which draws from Stanford psychologist Albert Bandura and safety expert E. Scott Geller. Arendt’s model frames culture as a dynamic system composed of three elements: System/Environment, Psychology, and Behavior. Understanding these elements helps organizations manage aviation safety culture deliberately rather than leaving it to chance.

System and Environment: Foundation for Aviation Safety Culture

Arendt identifies the system and environment as the most tangible part of culture and the one management can influence directly. This includes:

• Policies and procedures

• Organizational structure

• Accountability systems

• Equipment, facilities, and software

• External factors like regulations, contracts, and market forces

  
  

In a Safety Management System (SMS), this is where documented processes, risk controls, and compliance frameworks reside. Leadership has the clearest opportunity to make deliberate improvements here.

“The organization’s policy, organizational structure, accountability frameworks, procedures, controls, facilities, equipment, and software… all reside in this element.” — Don Arendt, A Model of Organizational Culture

Psychology: Building a Positive Aviation Safety Culture Mindset

Culture is also shaped by how people think and feel about the system and the organization. Arendt highlights that psychological elements are influenced by:

• National and professional cultures

• Industry norms and shared experiences

• Leadership tone and behavior

  
  

While you cannot directly manage thoughts and feelings, you can influence them. Surveys, interviews, and feedback tools help organizations understand employees’ perceptions of safety, leadership, and their role.

“You can’t make how people think and feel a matter of policy, although policies can affect how people think and feel.” — Don Arendt, A Model of Organizational Culture

Behavior: Observing Actions that Reflect Aviation Safety Culture

The final element is what people actually do. Behavior is influenced by both system resources and psychology, and shaped by leaders and peer modeling.

Observed behaviors during audits may not reflect day-to-day operations. This underscores the importance of a strong reporting culture:

“Employee reporting systems… provide a means of finding out what’s really going on.” — Don Arendt, A Model of Organizational Culture

Observing behaviors through sampling, shadowing, and reporting systems provides a more complete picture of aviation safety culture in action.

Measuring the Elements to Improve Aviation Safety Culture

Arendt’s model also offers guidance on measurement:

• System/Environment: audits, documented standards, inspections

• Behavior: sampling, shadowing, reporting systems

• Psychology: surveys and interviews

  
  

Measuring all three provides a holistic understanding of aviation safety culture, beyond just what is written in procedures.

Final Thought: Managing Aviation Safety Culture for Better Outcomes

Arendt emphasizes that safety culture is not simply “good” or “bad”. What matters is how organizations actively manage, measure, and adapt the system to achieve desired safety outcomes.

“There’s no such thing as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ safety culture… The important thing is how we manage, measure, and constantly adapt the system to get the safety outcomes that we want.” — Don Arendt, A Model of Organizational Culture

Every organization has a culture. A strong SMS doesn’t just document safety, it actively shapes systems, psychology, and behavior to improve aviation safety culture.

Source:

This post is based on Don Arendt’s paper, A Model of Organizational Culture, which draws from Dr. E. Scott Geller’s The Psychology of Safety Handbook and the work of Stanford psychologist Albert Bandura.