This paper argues that it is useful to regard 'reputational risk' as a pervasive logic of organizing and organizational attention. First, we suggest that the risk management agenda has expanded from its roots in technical analysis to become a cornerstone of good governance and responsible actorhood. We illustrate this claim in the context of English universities.Second we suggest that this expansion in the reach and significance of risk management has increased organizational orientations to reputational risk and to more defensively and legalistically framed forms of asset management. Specifically, organizations are responding to the growth of external bodies which evaluative and rank, and thereby generate reputational risk. In the context of universities, we argue that this leads both to specific transformations in organizational practices in response to ranking systems, and also to an increased generalised concern with reputational risk, which is a symptom of late modern insecurity.

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Abstract:Recent world events, most notably the global financial crisis, have refocused and intensified interest on risk and the nature of systems that operate to manage risk. One area that has received relatively little attention is the interrelation between risk, risk management and management accounting and control practices. This editorial provides an introduction to the special issue of the journal on "Risk and Risk Management in Management Accounting and Control". It argues that risk and the way it is managed has become a feature of organizational life in both the public and private sectors. By changing organizational practices risk management can facilitate and legitimise certain ways of organizing. It has the potential to change lines of responsibility and accountability in organizations, representing a particular way of governing individuals and activities. The argument is further made that risk management has moved away from being an issue of narrow concern to finance (value at risk, derivatives, etc.) or accountants (financial statement disclosure, etc.) to an issue about management control and therefore a key area in which management accountants need to engage. This editorial also highlights the potential side-effects of risk management, including issues around trust and accountability, but also the focus on secondary or defensive risk management and the rise of reputation risk.

Risk, regulation and practices of organizing are interrelated in a myriad of ways. Natural disasters, technical failures, and also processes of organizing are sources of risk to which organizations must respond and for which new managerial and regulatory practices are demanded. In this introduction we highlight three salient features of risk management: the (un)intended production of risk by organizations; the complex interrelationship between risk management and regulation; and the evolving and often contested nature of risk management knowledge. Each of these three themes is evident in the different contributions to this themed section. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2006.

The prevailing literature on cross-cultural research in management studies has tended to conceptualize the meaning and the impact of culture on organizations by using distinct categories. This article argues that given the embedded nature of organizations, a narrative methodology offers an alternative and complementary approach to developing our understanding in cross-cultural research. Using examples of story-driven investigations into cultural differences, it explains the potential of this approach. It therefore seeks to offer a contribution to the variety of methods for organizational research on cross-cultural issues.