Risk, innovation & change: Design propositions for implementing risk management in organizations

This Ph.D. research generated unique design propositions for implementing existing risk management methodologies in organizations. The resulting design propositions incorporate a synthesis of risk management, innovation management and change management.
True implementation of risk management is defined as routinizing the use of risk management methodologies at all levels within organizations, by all employees and on a daily basis. Worldwide, many public and private organizations, in a lot of industries, struggle with such implementation issues. Implementation does usually involve considerable costs, while the targeted objectives are often not (fully) realized. This is by far not restricted to risk management implementation. For instance, also the implementation of information and communication technology, quality management, and safety management inhibits lots of opportunities for improvement.
The innovative design science approach appeared to be the most appropriate methodology for this Ph.D. research. Subsequently, a number of exploration research and development research steps were taken. Comprehensive literature surveys and field research have been performed. Experts from academia and the professional practice, in the disciplines of risk management, innovation management, and change management, from The Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, were interviewed. The results served as foundation for the development research part. Synthesizing several concepts and analyzing hundreds of variables about risk, innovation, and change generated four practically applicable research products: a conceptual model, a design process model, an audit instrument and an intervention proposition. These research products were developed in three subsequent steps, validated in four Dutch case studies, and evaluated by an expert panel. Together, these research results provide unique design propositions for implementing risk management and (other) innovations in organizations.