Organizations, Uncertainties, And Risk

Every day, individuals, groups, and organizations make decisions that involve uncertainty and risk - and, often, important consequences for society. Increasingly, our lives are being defined by large-scale organizational decision processes involving governments, businesses and other institutions. This book examines the nature of decisionmaking by organizations confronted with various risks, focusing on choices in which technology and scientific advances play major roles. The contributors also look at the regulatory agencies that set and enforce standards of health and safety.
Within the literature on risk analysis this book is unique in its integration of social theory with wide variety of case examples. Theories of rational choice advanced by neoclassical economics and cognitive psychology are critically examined in view of the importance of the context for decisionmaking. Specific avenues for the study of the organizational/institutional contexts of decisionmaking and the process of socially constructing risk objects are proposed as a means of correcting the weaknesses of these theories.
The contributors examine the strategies of manufacturing and communications firms, neonatal intensive care units of hospitals, and a major U.S. governmental strategies are given: how energy choices are made in France and how expert advice and formal public involvement are incorporated into risk-related policy decisions in Britain. Field studies of regulatory agencies in Britain at both policymaking and enforcement levels are also included.