The recognition that organizations are a part of adverse outcomes has become commonplace in risk research. Social organization is a key theme in relation to risk minimization through institutional ...control and monitoring, and in how organizations are connected to society's perceptions of risk (beyond outcomes). The article reviews progress made in research on organizational risk over the last four decades and the contributions made to the field by fieldwork and descriptive approaches, understanding risk as partly determined by organizational context. A key issue for risk analysis is to figure out what these insights mean for risk professionals, such as while developing assessment methodologies and management approaches. Analysis of the literature shows that what to model if organizational factors are to be included in risk assessments remains as big a question as how to model. Integrating fieldwork and descriptive approaches for analyzing organizational risk, accidents, and safety is argued to be a main task for the risk analysis community.
In Nigeria, the threat posed by climate change is leading policymakers and the media to frame climate change as a security threat that warrants support for adaptive actions. We draw upon ...securitization theory to examine how security narratives affect climate change adaptation. Using primary and secondary data, we find that although securitization arguments are easily identified in climate change policies and action plans in Nigeria, the implications of securitization for adaptation policy and practice are harder to discern. We find that adaptation is not as urgent a policy as would be expected from the logic of securitization. The transformation of security framing into urgent adaptation actions appears difficult because there are no urgent adaptation measures. We also find that people's level of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change is a function of deeper socio-political dynamics and processes that defy the political theatre of securitization.
In this article, we use system/network theory together with the social amplification of risk framework (SARF) to show how expert actors over time and across multiple events can contribute to social ...risk amplification and attenuation. The framework and the theory, in particular the concepts of risk emplacement and displacement, are employed in the analysis of an illustrative case related to the use of the feed additive, narasin, and provide explanations of how risks are part of continuously ongoing and dynamic social processes. By emphasizing the role of experts in such developments, connecting what happens in expert communities with the processing of risks and effects on the outside, the analysis shows the larger context within which social risk attenuation and amplification happen. Showing the value of integrating different theories and perspectives, this article lays the foundations for further studies of risk amplification and attenuation dynamics. Based on the results of the analysis, we indicate opportunities to update and further develop the SARF. We also present some implications for public policy and risk management practices including addressing the positive contributions of risk amplification and how this relates to adaptive risk management approaches.
This open access book explores the synergies and tensions between safety and security management from a variety of perspectives and by combining input from numerous disciplines. It defines the ...concepts of safety and security, and discusses the methodological, organizational and institutional implications that accompany approaching them as separate entities and combining them, respectively.The book explores the coupling of safety and security from different perspectives, especially: the concepts and methods of risk, safety and security; the managerial aspects; user experiences in connection with safety and security. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the fields of safety and security, and to anyone working at a business or in an industry concerned with how safety and security should be managed.
This open access book explores the synergies and tensions between safety and security management from a variety of perspectives and by combining input from numerous disciplines. It defines the ...concepts of safety and security, and discusses the methodological, organizational and institutional implications that accompany approaching them as separate entities and combining them, respectively. The book explores the coupling of safety and security from different perspectives, especially: the concepts and methods of risk, safety and security; the managerial aspects; user experiences in connection with safety and security. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the fields of safety and security, and to anyone working at a business or in an industry concerned with how safety and security should be managed.
•Contractual governance is indispensable yet insufficient for achieving reliability in procured critical services.•For procured critical services, relational governance can contribute towards ...reliability.•Relational governance theories can expand our understanding of high-reliability networks.
The interconnectivity of critical services, resulting partly from the megatrends of globalization, liberalization, and deregulation, comes in many shapes and forms, one of them being the procurement arrangement. For publicly procured critical services, the transition between two contract periods can create organizational stresses that affect reliability. This paper, drawing on empirical materials from a case study of the two most recent air ambulance service procurements in Norway, assesses how governance solutions can counter such stresses and contribute to maintaining organizational reliability. Specifically, we analyse the contributions and limitations of relational governance, using relational exchange theory as a starting point.
Although contractual governance is fundamental for procured services, contracts cannot account for all future contingencies in long-term, complex procurements. In addition, contractual governance can shift the actors’ focus to procedural and contractual matters rather than total outcomes. Relational governance counters this effect by encouraging a holistic approach in which both flexibility and joint problem solving are important. We find that, in air ambulance procurements, the procurer has applied relational governance, with positive effect on organizational reliability. However, we also find that relational governance implies a difficult balancing act between flexibility-enhancing and stability-preserving approaches. Furthermore, when conflicts between a procurer and supplier are profound, neither contractual nor relational governance can necessarily provide adequate solutions. We argue that an implication of imperfect governance solutions is that procurer organizations and public policy makers need to take into account that the procurement of critical services can involve periods of reduced reliability in service output.
•Indicators are used by most organizations to track their safety performance.•Safety indicator can act as a boundary object that bridges different social worlds.•Case of public procurement of ...critical services - fixed-wing ambulance.•Indicators are shaped by their social and relational context.•Social context is critical for developing good indicators of system performance.
Indicators are used by most organizations to track their safety performance. Research attention has been drawn to what makes for a good indicator (specific, proactive, etc.) and the sometimes perverse and unexpected consequences of their introduction. While previous research has demonstrated some of the complexity, uncertainties and debates that surround safety indicators in the scientific community, to date, little attention has been paid to how a safety indicator can act as a boundary object that bridges different social worlds despite being the social groups’ diverse conceptualization. We examine how a safety performance indicator is interpreted and negotiated by different social groups in the context of public procurement of critical services, specifically fixed-wing ambulance services. The different uses that the procurer and service providers have for performance data are investigated, to analyze how a safety performance indicator can act as a boundary object, and with what consequences. Moving beyond the functionality of indicators to explore the meanings ascribed by different actors, allows for greater understanding of how indicators function in and between social groups and organizations, and how safety is more fundamentally conceived and enacted. In some cases, safety has become a proxy for other risks (reputation and financial). Focusing on the symbolic equivocality of outcome indicators and even more tightly defined safety performance indicators ultimately allows a richer understanding of the priorities of each actor within a supply chain and indicates that the imposition of oversimplified indicators may disrupt important work in ways that could be detrimental to safety performance.
This chapter looks back at how safety and security have developed in hazardous technologies and activities, explaining what has become an intersection between the two in both strategies and ...management practices. We argue for the connection to be made between social expectations of safe and secure societies and the limits to management and technical performance. In the first part of the chapter, conceptual similarities and differences are addressed and we distinguish three scientific and contextual vantage points for addressing how safety and security are converging: the conceptual approach, the technical and methodological approach, and the management and practice approach. We then go on to show that, as professional areas, safety and security have developed in different ways and supported by quite separate scientific and technological fields. Finally, we present the organization of the book
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