Oral Presentations - Session 1B: UC 327
Advancing Amidst Adversity: Missoula Homeless Shelters as High Reliability Organizations
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Daisy Rooks
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Sociology
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Non-profit organizations face uncertainty in various aspects of their work; this is particularly true for homeless shelters. However, despite adversity, I have found that one homeless shelter in Missoula is able to maintain stability because of particular organizational elements. This paper will analyze infrastructural components of the Poverello Center in Missoula based on the principles of a High Reliability Organization (Weick and Sutcliffe 2007), principles which include: organizational commitment to resiliency, sensitivity to operations, deference to expertise, a reluctance to simplify, and a preoccupation with failure. I will use a qualitative analysis that explores emergent themes and provides evidence based claims from ethnographic field notes. In utilizing an HRO framework to consider links between HRO principles and the infrastructural activities that occur within the Poverello Center, I will examine and learn much of what it is that makes the Poverello Center resilient in the face of adversity.
Category
Social Sciences
Advancing Amidst Adversity: Missoula Homeless Shelters as High Reliability Organizations
UC 327
Non-profit organizations face uncertainty in various aspects of their work; this is particularly true for homeless shelters. However, despite adversity, I have found that one homeless shelter in Missoula is able to maintain stability because of particular organizational elements. This paper will analyze infrastructural components of the Poverello Center in Missoula based on the principles of a High Reliability Organization (Weick and Sutcliffe 2007), principles which include: organizational commitment to resiliency, sensitivity to operations, deference to expertise, a reluctance to simplify, and a preoccupation with failure. I will use a qualitative analysis that explores emergent themes and provides evidence based claims from ethnographic field notes. In utilizing an HRO framework to consider links between HRO principles and the infrastructural activities that occur within the Poverello Center, I will examine and learn much of what it is that makes the Poverello Center resilient in the face of adversity.