Making Sense of Risk Management as a (Dis)Comfort-Inducing Practice
- 1 September 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Accounting Association in Behavioral Research in Accounting
- Vol. 33 (1), 1-20
- https://doi.org/10.2308/bria-18-016
Abstract
This study aims to enhance our understanding of the practice of risk management, and specifically how corporate boards fulfill their responsibilities regarding risk oversight. We draw on a theoretical perspective centered on (dis)comfort and 25 interviews with corporate board members and risk management consultants in Canada to present a view of risk management as a set of activities characterized by tension between actions that engender the feeling of discomfort, and a quest for comfort and reassurance. Our findings provide insights that show how, alongside the functionalist underpinnings, comfort-seeking represents a pervasive imperative that profoundly shapes risk management in action.Keywords
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