Olivier Berthod

Some Characteristics of High-Reliability Networks

This research note documents the initial findings of an ongoing ethnographic study at a fire and emergency service. This particular organization has become a focus of attention because of its skilled coordination of handling large‐scale organized events in cooperation with a large number of other organizations, thereby increasing their reliability. First of all, we will introduce the case and our observations, then discuss our findings against the backdrop of high‐reliability theory. We use these findings to characterize high‐reliability networks.

Locked in the Iron Cage? When Institutionalization Is (not) a Path-Dependent Process

In his influential essay, Powell (1991, p. 186) stresses how little we know about the genesis and emergence of institutions. To him, neo-institutional theory consequently fails to look at issues of reproduction adequately. Path dependence, in his opinion, could contribute to these issues, not least due to its endogenous focus on the constitution and distributed reproduction of collective rationalities. And yet, studies in the neo-institutionalism tradition continue to mention the concept of path dependence with little consideration for its theoretical foundations (e.g. Holm, 1995; Thornton, Jones, and Kury, 2005; Modell, Jacobs, and Wiesel, 2007). In fact, and as we will see later, path dependence is more often evoked for rhetorical purposes than for the usage of its analytical tools (for a similar criticism see Sydow, Schreyogg, and Koch, 2009). As a result, the potential of path dependence has not yet really been exploited by institutionalists.

Out of Nowhere? Interorganizational Assemblage as the Answer to a Food-Borne Disease Outbreak

The ad hoc formation of interorganizational relationships and networks remains a black box for management scholars. We address this phenomenon by investigating interorganizational responses to an extreme event. Hence, we explore how interorganizational constellations of previously unconnected actors formed in response to the large-scale outbreak of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) in Germany in 2011, which killed 53 people and affected over 4,000. We present a preliminary model of interorganizational assemblage and offer propositions that highlight the conditions under which the development of collaborations across organizations is made possible in face of crises.

Interorganizational Crisis Management

Crisis situations represent a key managerial concern, as they are heavily imbued with uncertainty, implying, in contrast to calculable risks, the necessity to deal with the unexpected. Previous management research has focused predominantly in this regard upon the way organizations face crises once they have occurred; that is, on the reactive measures of single organizations. Against this background, this chapter sketches extant research on these predominantly organizational crisis management activities and offers options for practice and for future research geared towards interorganizational constellations and how they can prepare proactively for such situations.

The programming of decisions for disaster and emergency response: A Luhmannian approach

Organizations managing disasters face a paradox. They need to build stable, reliable structures that are flexible enough to allow adaptation to such unexpected events. Much planning for concrete disaster response operations involves scenarios. From a Luhmannian perspective, this approach is characteristic of a form of ‘if-then’ conditional programming. Extant research on emergencies and disaster management, however, has remained silent about other than scenario-based planning. This article draws on sociological decision theory to highlight alternative forms of planning for disasters. It presents the possibilities to build stable structures for disaster management by making use of conditional programmes that rely on space instead of scenarios, and by making use of what Luhmann calls ‘programme nesting’. It illustrates this argument with a case study of emergency management in a large German city at the origin of this new planning method.

Making Sense in Pitch Darkness: An Exploration of the Sociomateriality of Sensemaking in Crises:

A brief failure of one item on the display of the information system (IS) on Flight AF 447 wrought havoc in the coordination between the pilots and the aircraft, leading to the loss of all 228 lives on board. In this essay, we ask the following question: How can the very instruments supposed to ensure our safety and make organizations more reliable lead a team to destruction? We propose that the imbrication of material and human agencies in such highly automated systems drives an attitude of “mindful indifference” (i.e., the capacity for experienced operators to distinguish problems that could turn into critical ones from problems that can be tolerated on account of the overall system reliability). An abrupt change in this imbrication provoked emotional distress and focused the pilots’ attention toward the machine, instead of triggering an organizational process of sensemaking. We highlight the role of leadership in such situations.

Network Ethnography: A Mixed-Method Approach for the Study of Practices in Interorganizational Settings

A general interest in the study of social practices has been spreading across a diversity of disciplines in organization and management research, relying mostly on rich ethnographic accounts of units or teams. What is often called the “practice-turn�?, however, has not reached research on interorganizational networks. This is mainly due to methodological issues that call, in the end, for a mixed-method approach. This paper addresses this issue by proposing a research design that balances well-established social network analysis with a set of techniques of organizational ethnography that fit with the specifics of interorganizational networks. In what we call “network ethnography�?, qualitative and quantitative data are collected and analyzed in a parallel fashion. Ultimately, the design implies convergence during data interpretation, hereby offering platforms of reflection for each method towards new data collection and analysis. We discuss implications for mixed-method literature, research on inter- organizational networks, and organizational ethnography.

From HRO to HRN: Dynamics of Network Governance in the Face of Emergency

Most research on high-reliability organizations has concentrated upon how teams or single organizations operate reliably, despite being prone to fatal hazards. Recently, a growing body of disparate...