Making Sense of Risk Management as a (Dis)Comfort-Inducing Practice

Abstract

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.