A managerial approach to NASA's cultural changes open-system model

• Main Author: Long, Nicholas.
• Other Authors: Suchan, James
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/3077

This project describes NASA's culture during two important time periods (1958-1972) and (1996-2004) and explains its relative fit with its system components-task, people, resources, and structure. The open-system model is used to explain how system components affect culture and how culture affects them. During the first period (1958- 1972), NASA was established and it landed the first man on the moon, a remarkable accomplishment given the advances in science and technology required to complete this mission. During the second period (1996-2004), the Columbia accident occurred, causing NASA's image to be tarnished and its credibility with key stakeholders to be compromised. To conduct this research, books, online resources, newspaper article, technical and investigative reports and theses provided the main sources of information. Project results indicate that culture alone is not the only contributory factor to NASA's performance. The space agency's technical culture closely aligned with system components enabled the organization to complete its moon-landing mission. However, NASA culture changed due to alterations in the system components. A misalignment between culture and its system components occurred during the second period, causing the Columbia accident. Therefore, the alignment between culture and other components is essential for NASA to perform its missions effectively. NASA leadership should monitor and assess this alignment to help prevent future mishaps.