‘Re-Opening the Black Box’: The Story of Implementing a Risk Analysis Method in a French Local Government

Abstract

This research is a study of the implementation of a risk analysis method (RAM) in a French local government. Based on the sociology of translation framework, this study shows that the success of the implementation of this management device is due to the transformation of its initial characteristics. Indeed, the RAM was initially designed to analyze the risks of outsourcing public services and thereby to aid elected officials with decision making. But in the hands of the actors in charge of its implementation, it progressively became a means for the members of the administrative services to inform elected officials about the consequences of their choices. This paper thus describes the ‘trajectory’ of this management device in a local government and, in doing so, emphasizes how it progressively became what it is (and what it is not) at present in this local government.

Managing risk in the public sector – The interaction between vernacular and formal risk management systems

“…The formalization of risk management systems can be identified: through the introduction of dedicated risk experts such as internal auditors, chief risk officers and/or risk managers, and through the introduction of formal risk management tools , such as heat maps (Arena et al., ; Hall, Mikes, & Millo, ; Mikes, , ; Palermo, ; Rocher, ; Vinnari & Skærbæk, , Woods, ). Previous research has reported on the implementation of formal risk management systems identifying a top–down design and roll out of risk management in public sector organizations (Palermo, ; Rocher, ; Vinnari & Skærbæk, ; Woods, ). Palermo (, p. 332) discussed the manner in which the Audit Committee approved “a policy outlining the risk management principles, roles and instruments to be applied across the whole organization.” Rocher (, p. 71) reported on the struggles encountered in the implementation of a new risk analysis method, developed by the Public Accounting General Directorate of the French Ministry of Finance, which was “delivered to local government as a “ready to use” method.” In a Finnish case, by Vinnari and Skærbæk (, p. 507), the internal auditor produced and promoted COSO‐based formal risk management guidelines; over time, these guidelines came to be approved as the “municipality's official risk management document.” However, the manner in which the internal auditor framed risk management was “considered too far removed from the frame of managers’ daily work and the inscriptions are reportedly only employed at a superficial level, to go through the motions of compliance” (Vinnari & Skærbæk, , p. 513).…”

“…Research on “new” risk management has focused attention toward the introduction of formal risk management systems in public sector organizations (Palermo, ; Rocher, ; Vinnari & Skærbæk, ; Woods, ). A common feature of these studies is a hierarchical, top–down approach for implementing formal risk management systems triggered by external pressures or regulatory demands.…”

“…tems in public sector organizations (Palermo, 2014;Rocher, 2011;Vinnari & Skaerbaek, 2014;Woods, 2009). A common feature of these studies is a hierarchical, top-down approach for implementing formal risk management systems triggered by external pressures or regulatory demands.…”

Audit as Leviathan: Constructing Quality Registers in Swedish Health Care

“…These circulating ideas also influence existing tools and practices, and gradually change these existing devices. Several studies have reported on the implementation of new accounting devices and how this has given rise to resistance and change of both practice and practitioner (Kurunmäki, ; Skærbæk and Thorbjørnsen, ; Vikkelsø, ; and Rocher, ). In this study the focus has been on an existing medical professional tool and how this tool, invented for one purpose, gradually turned into a modern management device and found its governmental role for another.…”

“…In the accounting literature, ANT and the notion of translation has been used to emphasize how accounting devices emerge and transform (e.g., Preston, ; Lowe, ; Vikkelsø, ; and Rocher, ) and how performance auditing shapes identities (Skærbæk and Thorbjørnsen, ; and Justesen and Skærbæk, ). However, the issue of power and the construction of macro‐actors has been less developed (Czarniawska and Hernés, ).…”