Organizations, Risk Translation, and the Ecology of Risks: The Discursive Construction of a Novel Risk

Abstract

The contemporary “risk society” is associated with the emergence of a wide range of risks characterized by uncertainty and unfamiliarity. These “novel” risks pose a major challenge for organizations: their negative effects may be significant, but prevailing risk-assessment techniques are limited in their ability to identify these effects. Building on our prior work on the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), this study examines how organizations deal with novel risks. It finds that organizations engage in “risk translation” by translating equivocality associated with the novel risk into more familiar risks, providing them with a clearer basis and guide for action. As multiple organizations take actions to manage these translated risks, the interactive effects result in an “ecology of risks” that evolves over time, allowing for the construction of a novel risk. The study contributes to research on organizing and risk by theorizing how organizations respond to novel risks, as well as by highlighting the role of translated organizational risks in constructing novel risks and shaping societal responses to grand challenges.