Cultural variation of views on effective crew resource management skills

Abstract

While it is generally agreed in the aviation community, that effective crew resource management (CRM) skills are an indispensable condition for a safe and efficient flight operation, there seems to be a wider range of views on what behaviors constitute effective crew performance. Within a European project an evaluation tool for CRM skills called NOTECHS was developed with four categories: Co-operation, Leadership and Managerial Skills, Situation Awareness and Decision Making. In a study to examine its suitability as a standard for CRM skills in different European regions the cultural robustness of the method was tested. 105 instructor pilots from 15 different airlines representing 12 European countries participated. The participants evaluated crew behaviors in eight video scenarios with the NOTECHS method. According to variance analytical results, regional differences in Europe seem to affect the ratings of CRM-skills only to a small degree. Cultural differences are confounded with other background variables, such as English language proficiency, work experience, instructor experience and attitudes. These background variables seem to have stronger effects on views of effective CRM behaviors than culture per se. Results of the analyses are discussed with respect to cultural robustness of the NOTECHS method.