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Issue link: https://groundsupportworldwide.epubxp.com/i/695574
20 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE JUNE/JULY 2016 INTERNATIONAL By Mario Pierobon A more respectful relationship with authority is one of the defning traits of Asian cultures as compared with the West. There is nothing that is inherently right or wrong in a culture; there are only cultural peculiarities that need to be accounted for if ramp safety efforts are to be effective and this cannot be achieved by copy pasting the cultural model of the West. How can management best handle these peculiarities of safety reporting while remaining within cultural boundaries? Culture Shock: Safety Reporting in the Face of Cultural Boundaries T he Asian continent has been a driver of global economic growth for more than 50 years and the aviation industry in Asia is booming. Aircraft ground handling plays a signifcant role in the aviation supply chain and with the congestion of several Asian hubs ramp safety is of paramount relevance even in this region of the world. The ramp is an environment where it is important to highlight safety concerns to management and safety management systems (SMS) rely heavily on employees reporting actual or perceived safety concerns; management, however, may not want to hear concerns and/or it may actually be somehow involved in the causation chain leading to the materialisation of safety events. We have spoken with an organisational studies researcher who has expe- rience in dealing with organ- isations in China, Korea and Japan. She believes that in general in these countries societies and organisa- tions do show a high level of respect for the hierarchy and for seniority. It is not that necessarily people will not report a safety issue and hide it because it might offend senior management. It is only that senior managers often have absolute respect in terms of authority. This means that in case of hazardous situations being generated there are two main behavioural patterns that can be identifed. "If employees were able to convey a mes- sage without pointing the fngers to the top management by diluting the responsibility across