Abstract
Today’s social reality will doubtless alter the risk management practices of organizations of all kinds. Whereas large companies and public institutions serve as role models and have the resources to apply standards or develop and set them by themselves, mid-sized businesses usually do not have this possibility. Instead, they apply management practices that base on existing management routines and their typical organizational characteristics. But how do these practices look like? And what is the semantic program that is performed by the organization to manage the risks? This empirical paper contains the analysis of typical risk management practices in mid-sized service companies in Switzerland. The study relies on open, qualitative interviews with top level decision-makers resulting in the description of the characteristics of six companies. The analysis shows that these firms mainly focus on project risk management, and combine it with a strong focus on business speed and agility, the smart combination of their talent pool in teams, the application of a non-bureaucratic governance style and a conscious acceptance of a high degree of intuition in management decisions. This research contributes to a better understanding of the risk design of mid-sized business organizations as very important societal units in splitting, pooling, distributing and addressing their risks.
About the author
Jens O. Meissner is Professor for Organization Studies at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Switzerland), Visiting Lecturer at the University of Hanover (Germany) and Senior Lecturer at University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). He heads Lucerne’s “Master for Advanced Studies in Risk Management” and actually chairs the Competence Center for Management & Law. His research interests lie within the intersection of organizational communication work, innovation and risk management. Strongly influenced by the concepts of newer sociological systems theory, his research is based primarily on qualitative research methods. Jens Meissner studied economics at Private University Witten/Herdecke (Germany) and received his doctoral title from Basel University (Switzerland). Recently, his finished his report on “Flexible, neue Arbeitswelt” for the Swiss Centre for Technology Assessment (TA-SWISS, published by vdf Verlag, Zürich, Switzerland). As a trained salesman of industry, he has worked for several business organizations and consultancies in the fields of personnel and organizational development in Hanover, Munich, Berlin, and Washington, D.C.
References
Acs, Zoltan J./Audretsch, David B. (eds.) (2003): Handbook of Entrepreneurship Research. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.10.1007/b105789Search in Google Scholar
Adam, Tim/Fernando, Chitru S./Golubeva, Evgenia V. (2012): Managerial Overconfidence and Corporate Risk Management. Discussion Paper 18, SFB 649 “Economic Risk”, Humboldt-Universität Berlin.10.2139/ssrn.1364533Search in Google Scholar
Amrein, Thomas/Schleiss, Isabelle/Soland, Thomas (2011): Praxis und Theorie des Enterprise Risk Managements: ein effizientes Verhältnis beider Ansätze. Master Thesis at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.Search in Google Scholar
Argyris, Chris/Schön, Donald (1974): Theory in Practice. Increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Search in Google Scholar
Audretsch, David B. (2001): Research Issues Relation to Structure, Competition and Performance of Small Technology-based Firms. Small Business Economics 16, 1, 37–51.10.1023/A:1011124607332Search in Google Scholar
Bacharach, Samuel B./Bamberger, Peter/Sonnenstuhl, William J. (1996): The Organizational Transformation Process. The Micropolitics of Dissonance Reduction and the Alignment of Logics of Action. Administrative Science Quarterly 41, 3, 477–506.10.2307/2393939Search in Google Scholar
Baecker, Dirk (1999): Organisation als System. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp.Search in Google Scholar
Baecker, Dirk (2003): Organisation und Management. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp.Search in Google Scholar
Baecker, Dirk (2008): Womit handeln Banken? Eine Untersuchung zur Risikoverarbeitung der Wirtschaft. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp (1st edition 1994).Search in Google Scholar
Baecker, Dirk (2011): Organisation und Störung. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp.Search in Google Scholar
Baecker, Dirk (2013a): Systemic Theories of Communication. Pp. 85–100 in: Paul Cobley/Peter J. Schulz (eds.), Handbooks of Communication Science, Vol. 1: Theories and Models of Communication. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9783110240450.85Search in Google Scholar
Baecker, Dirk (2013b): Joint Risk Design in Finance and Production. Proposal of a Conference Project. Unpublished Paper, March 2013.Search in Google Scholar
Becker, Markus C. (ed.) (2008): Handbook of Organizational Routines. Cheltenham: Elgar.10.4337/9781848442702Search in Google Scholar
Baitsch, Christof (1993): Was bewegt Organisationen? Selbstorganisation aus psychologischer Perspektive. Frankfurt a. M.: Campus.Search in Google Scholar
Bendell, Tony (2014): Building Anti-Fragile Organisations. Farnham, Surrey: Gower.Search in Google Scholar
Brühwiler, Bruno (2011): Risikomanagement als Führungsaufgabe. ISO 31 000 mit ONR 49‘000 wirksam durchsetzen. Bern: Haupt (3rd edition).Search in Google Scholar
Borghesi, Antonio/Gaudenzi, Barbara (2012): Risk Management: How to Assess, Transfer and Communicate Critical Risks. Milan: Springer.Search in Google Scholar
Bouwen, Rene/Fry, Ronald (1991): Organisational Innovation and Learning. International Studies of Management and Organisation 21, 4, 37–51.10.1080/00208825.1991.11656566Search in Google Scholar
Brown, David (1997). Managing Risk and Innovation: the Challenge for Smaller Businesses. University of Warwick: Warwick Risk Initiative.Search in Google Scholar
Bryman, Alan/Bell, Emma (2011). Business Research Methods. Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Carroll, Stephen J./Gillen, Dennis I. (2013): Are the Classical Management Functions Useful in Describing Managerial Work? Academy of Management Review 12, 1, 38–51.10.4324/9780429398599-18Search in Google Scholar
Carsten Stahl, Bernd/Lichtenstein, Yossi/Mangan, Anita (2003): The Limits of Risk Management – A social construction approach. Communication of the International Information Management Association 3, 3, 15–22.Search in Google Scholar
COSO (2004): Enterprise Risk Management: Integrated Framework. COSO. The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.Search in Google Scholar
COSO (2015): Introduction to COSO. The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. www.coso.org.Search in Google Scholar
Dachler, Hans-Peter/Hosking, Diane Mary (1995): The primacy of relations in socially constructing organization realities. Pp. 1–28 in: Diane-Mary Hosking/Hans-Peter Dachler/Kenneth J. Gergen (eds.), Management and Organization: Relational Alternatives to Individualism. Aldershot u. a.: Avebury.Search in Google Scholar
Davies, Martin B. (2007): Doing a successful research project: Using qualitative or quantitative methods. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillian.Search in Google Scholar
Gulati, Ranjay (2009): Reorganize for Resilience. Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.Search in Google Scholar
Hansen, Vivane/Tanja Matetic (2013): Verbindung von strategischem Management und Risk Managementals Steuerungs- und Beurteilungsinstrumente für die Unternehmensführung der SBB. Master Thesis at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.Search in Google Scholar
Humphrey, Albert S. (1974): MBO turned Upside Down. Management Review 63, 8, 4–8.Search in Google Scholar
Feldman, Martha S./Pentland, Brian T. (2003): Reconceptualizing Organizational Routines as a Source of Flexibility and Change. Administrative Science Quarterly 48, 1, 94–118.10.2307/3556620Search in Google Scholar
Flick, Ulrich (2010): Qualitative Sozialforschung. Eine Einführung. Reinbek: Rowohlt.Search in Google Scholar
Gherardi, Silvia (2012): How to Conduct a Practice-based Study. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.10.4337/9780857933386Search in Google Scholar
Hoyt, R.E./Liebenberg A.P. (2011): The Value of Enterprise Risk Management. The Journal of Risk and Insurance 78, 4, 795–822.10.1111/j.1539-6975.2011.01413.xSearch in Google Scholar
Hubbard, Douglas W. (2009): The Failure of Risk Management: Why it’s Broken and How to Fix it. Hoboken, NJ: J.Wiley.Search in Google Scholar
IIA (2013): The Three Lines of Defense in Effective Risk Management and Control. January, Altamore Springs, Florida: The Institute of Internal Auditors.Search in Google Scholar
ISO (2015): Introduction to ISO 31’000. ISO. International Standardization Organizations. www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/iso31000.htm.Search in Google Scholar
Luhmann, Niklas (1984): Soziale Systeme. Grundriß einer allgemeine Theorie. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp.Search in Google Scholar
Luhmann, Niklas (1991): Soziologie des Risikos. Berlin: de Gruyter.Search in Google Scholar
Luhmann, Niklas (1992). Beobachtungen der Moderne. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.10.1007/978-3-322-93617-2Search in Google Scholar
Luhmann, Niklas (1993): Risk: A Sociological Theory. New York: de Gruyter.Search in Google Scholar
Luhmann, Niklas (2001): Aufsätze und Reden. Stuttgart: Reclam.Search in Google Scholar
Meissner, Jens O./Seemann, Silke (2013): Unternehmenserneuerung zwischen Innovationssystemen und Systeminnovationen. Pp. 159–178 in: Martin Vogel (ed.), Organisationen – außer Ordnung. Außerordentliche Beobachtungen organisationaler Praxis. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.10.13109/9783666404504.159Search in Google Scholar
Meissner, Jens O./Baumann, Sheron/Hübscher, Bettina/Senn, Patrick (2013): Integrales Risiko Management zur ganzheitlichen Sicherung der Geschäftstätigkeit. IBR Working Paper. Institute of Management and Regional Economics. Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.Search in Google Scholar
Merna, Tony/Al-Thani, Faisal F. (2005): Corporate Risk Management: An Organizational Perspective. London/Chichester: Wiley.Search in Google Scholar
Meyer, Michael/Simsa, Ruth (2013): Entwicklungsperspektiven des Nonprofit-Sektors. Pp. 509–524 in: Ruth Simsa/Michael Meyer/Christoph Badelt (eds.), Handbuch der Nonprofit-Organisationen. Strukturen und Management. Stuttgart: Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag (5th edition).Search in Google Scholar
Miller, Kent D. (1992): A Framework for Integrated Risk Management in International Business. Journal of International Business Studies 23, 2, 311–331.10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490270Search in Google Scholar
Miller, Peter/Kurunmäki, Liisa/O’Leary, Ted (2008): Accounting, Hybrids and the Management of Risk. Accounting, Organizations and Society 33, 7–8, 942–967.10.1016/j.aos.2007.02.005Search in Google Scholar
Müller, Werner R./Hurter, Martin (1999): Führung als Schlüssel zur organisationalen Lernfähigkeit. Pp. 1–54 in: Georg Schreyögg/Jörg Sydow (Hrsg.), Managementforschung 9: Führung – anders gesehen. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.10.1515/9783112421802-003Search in Google Scholar
Mintzberg, Henry (1973): The Nature of Managerial Work. New York: Harper and Row.Search in Google Scholar
Papadakis, V./Barwise, P. (2002): How Much do CEOs and Top Managers Matter in Strategic Decision-Making? British Journal of Management 13, 83–95.10.1111/1467-8551.00224Search in Google Scholar
Power, Michael E. (2004): The Risk Management of Everything. London: Demos.10.1108/eb023001Search in Google Scholar
Power, Michael E. (2007): Organized Uncertainty: Designing a World of Risk Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Richbell, Suzanne M./Wardle, Perry/Watts, H. Doug (2006): Owner-managers and Business Planning in the Small Firm. International Small Business Journal 24, 5, 496–514.10.1177/0266242606067275Search in Google Scholar
Rüegg-Stürm, Johannes/Grand, Simon (2014): Das neue St. Galler Management Modell. Bern: Haupt.Search in Google Scholar
Sabel, Charles F. (1993): Studied Trust. Building New Forms of Cooperation in a Volatile Economy. Human Relations 46, 9, 1133–1170.10.1177/001872679304600907Search in Google Scholar
Sackmann, Sonja (1992): Culture and Subcultures: An Analysis of Organizational Knowledge. Administrative Science Quarterly 37, 1, 140–161.10.2307/2393536Search in Google Scholar
Scharmer, Claus-Otto (2007): Theory U. Leading from the future as it emerges. Cambridge, UK: Society of Organizational Learning, Inc.Search in Google Scholar
Snowden, Dave (2002): Complex Acts of Knowing: Paradox and Descriptive Self-awareness. Journal of Knowledge Management 6, 2, 100–111.10.1108/13673270210424639Search in Google Scholar
Stacey, Ralph D. (2001): Complex Responsive Processes in Organizations: Learning and Knowledge Creation. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2000): The Contribution of the Economics of Information to Twentieth Century Economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics 115, 1441–1478.10.1162/003355300555015Search in Google Scholar
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas (2007): The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, London: Penguin.Search in Google Scholar
Tuckermann, Harald (2013): Einführung in die systemische Organisationsforschung. Heidelberg: Carl-Auer.Search in Google Scholar
Vaassen, Bernd (1996): Die narrative Gestalt(ung) der Wirklichkeit. Braunschweig/Wiesbaden: Vieweg.10.1007/978-3-322-90974-9Search in Google Scholar
Välikangas, Liisa (2010): The Resilient Organization. How Adaptive Cultures Thrive Even When Strategy Fails. New York: McGraw-Hill.Search in Google Scholar
Vogd, Werner (2014): Qualitativ-rekonstruktive Organisationsforschung. Pp. 289–317 in: Rudolf Wimmer/Jens O. Meissner/Patricia Wolf (Hrsg.), Praktische Organisationswissenschaft. Heidelberg: Carl-Auer.Search in Google Scholar
Weick, Karl E./Kathleen M. Sutcliffe/David Obstfeld (2005): Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking. Organization Science 16, 4, 409–421.10.1287/orsc.1050.0133Search in Google Scholar
Wimmer, Rudolf (2004): OE am Scheideweg: Hat die Organisationsentwicklung ihre Zukunft bereits hinter sich? Organisationsentwicklung 1, 26–39.Search in Google Scholar
Wimmer, Rudolf (2012): Die neuere Systemtheorie und ihre Implikationen für das Verständnis von Organisation, Führung und Management. Pp. 7–65 in: Johannes Rüegg-Stürm/Thomas Bieger (eds.), Unternehmerisches Management. Herausforderungen und Perspektiven. Bern: Haupt.Search in Google Scholar
Wimmer, Rudolf/Meissner, Jens O./Wolf, Patricia (eds.) (2014): Praktische Organisationswissenschaft. Lehrbuch für Studium und Beruf. Heidelberg: Carl-Auer Systeme (2nd edition).Search in Google Scholar
Wolf, Patricia/Kaudela-Baum, Stephanie/Meissner, Jens O. (2012): Exploring Innovating Cultures in SME: Findings from Central Switzerland. International Small Business Journal 30, 3, 242–274.10.1177/0266242610386666Search in Google Scholar
Woods, Margaret/Kajüter, Peter/Linsley, Philip (2008): International Risk Management: Systems, Internal Control and Corporate Governance. Oxford: CIMA.Search in Google Scholar
© 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
