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Error Climate and How Individuals Deal with Errors in the Workplace

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Discourses on Professional Learning

Part of the book series: Professional and Practice-based Learning ((PPBL,volume 9))

Abstract

This cross-sectional field study investigates the effect of contextual influences (error climate) on reactions to errors (how individuals deal with errors). We surveyed n = 830 apprentices in various trainee positions in the hotel and restaurant industry. The responses show that perceived error climate in the training company, as well as the self-concept of professional competence, predict the way in which apprentices deal individually with errors. Moreover, the findings indicate that both—socio-demographic group and the characteristics of the organization—also influence affective responses to errors.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The terms “climate” and “culture” often are used synonymously in research on human error. They are closely intertwined and difficult to distinguish (Reichers & Schneider, 1990). We follow the understanding of error climate as “the evaluation and use of errors as integral elements of the learning process in the social learning environment” (Steuer et al., 2013, 198) of the company in which training is taking place.

  2. 2.

    Within the scope of this study, Sabrina Schwarz (M.Sc.) and Judith Mueller (M.Sc.) wrote their master’s theses, and Ina Mehle (Dipl.-Hdl.) wrote her diploma thesis. We would like to thank them for the data collection.

  3. 3.

    We would like to thank Gabriele Steuer, Gisela Rosentritt-Brunn, and Markus Dresel for providing a draft version of the questionnaire before publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Economics and Business Education II, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Alexander Baumgartner & Jürgen Seifried

Authors
  1. Alexander Baumgartner
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  2. Jürgen Seifried
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Correspondence to Alexander Baumgartner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Educational Science, University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany

    Christian Harteis

  2. Department of Business Education and Educational Management, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany

    Andreas Rausch

  3. Economics and Business Education II, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

    Jürgen Seifried

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Baumgartner, A., Seifried, J. (2014). Error Climate and How Individuals Deal with Errors in the Workplace. In: Harteis, C., Rausch, A., Seifried, J. (eds) Discourses on Professional Learning. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7012-6_6

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