"Purpose – This study aims to use organizational identification, organizational culture and safety culture as the intervening variables between safety mission statements and safety behavior to survey and model the process of brokering knowledge from the top strategy makers to the workers on assignments. A pilot empirical research initiative was launched to determine the linkage between safety missions and safety behavior in the airline industry.
Design/methodology/approach – First, descriptive statistics and independent-sample t-tests were used to evaluate the mean, standard deviation (SD) and the relationship between the safety mission statement, organizational identification, organizational culture, safety culture and safety behavior and the respondent's years of working for the sampled airline. In addition, Pearson correlation analysis was used to test the relationships between the five factors. Finally, path analysis was used to examine the direct effects and indirect effects between individual factors.
Findings – The findings show that organizational identification and organizational culture are two important intervening variables between the safety mission statement (knowledge brokering) and safety behavior. The results of Pearson correlation analysis indicate that five factors are highly correlated with each other, especially the safety mission statement and organizational identification; organizational culture and safety culture; organizational identification and organizational culture; and safety culture and safety behavior. Besides, the safety mission statement has a negative direct effect on the pilot's safety behavior.
Originality/value – To understand the process of using the safety mission statement to change safety behavior can significantly increase the benefits of brokering knowledge. Furthermore, this study has provided an overview of the flight crews' perceptions on how safety is managed in the aviation industry. Based on the findings, it is concluded that organizations in the various sectors of the airline could do better in managing safety, and in brokering the safety knowledge in the industry. At another level, this study provides an opportunity to explore the validity of causal relationships among different areas."
