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Operational dilemmas in safety-critical industries: The tension between organizational reputational concerns and the effective communication of risk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2019

Ambisisi Ambituuni Open the ORCID record for Ambisisi Ambituuni [Opens in a new window] ,
Chibuzo Ejiogu ,
Amanze Ejiogu Open the ORCID record for Amanze Ejiogu [Opens in a new window]  and
Maktoba Omar
Ambisisi Ambituuni*
Affiliation:
School of Strategy and Leadership, Faculty of Business and Law, Coventry University, CV1 5FB, Coventry, UK
Chibuzo Ejiogu
Affiliation:
Department of Politics, People and Place, Faculty of Business and Law, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
Amanze Ejiogu
Affiliation:
School of Business, University of Leicester, Ken Edwards Building, Room 402, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
Maktoba Omar
Affiliation:
School of Strategy and Leadership, Faculty of Business and Law, Coventry University, CV1 5FB, Coventry, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: ambi.ambituuni@coventry.ac.uk
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Abstract

Organizations involved in safety-critical operations often deal with operational tensions, especially when involved in safety-critical incidents that is likely to violate safety. In this paper, we set out to understand how the disclosures of safety-critical incidents take place in the face of reputational tension. Based on the case of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), we draw on image repair theory and information manipulation theory and adopt discourse analysis as a method of analyzing safety-critical incident press releases and reports from the NNPC. We found NNPC deploying image repair as part of incident disclosures to deflect attention, evade blame and avoid issuing apologies. This is supported by the violation of the conversational maxims. The paper provides a theoretical model for discursively assessing the practices of incident information disclosure by an organization in the face of reputational tension, and further assesses the risk communication implications of such practices.

Keywords

safety-critical incidentsreputational concernrisk and safety communicationNNPC
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , March 2024 , pp. 269 - 286
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2019.

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