V.N.

Bhattacharya
Business & Corporate Strategy

Case Study: Space Shuttle Columbia Accident

Case brief

I would like you to discuss them in your (company) groups ahead of the class. In particular
please focus on questions 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10.

1. Why did the shuttle fail on re-entry?

2. Could repair have been carried out in flight? Could the shuttle have been evacuated?
– Why did Mission Control not take either step?
3. Why did they not consider the issue more seriously?
– Out of family instead of in-family problem.
4. Did engineers and managers see the problem the same way? Differently? Why?
5. Why didn’t management institute a Tiger Team instead of DAT?
6. Did previous record of safe return in spite of foam damage affect assessment? Why?
7. Were there any weaknesses in the organisation structure?
8. Was framing effect at play? How?
9. Were managers affected by confirmation bias?
10. Under what circumstances can such errors occur in a business enterprise?

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