Risk, diffusion and the UK's national agreement in construction

Abstract

There have been numerous attempts to understand the way in which organisations undertake change. In this seminar we will consider the idea of mimetics and isomorphism - of business and industry recipes, and the way risk is managed in organisations. The research study encompassed the major oil and chemical installations in the UK who progressively adopted the National Agreement for Engineering Construction in respect of their external contractors. The factors underlying the change are highlighted using Rogers’ theory of the diffusion of innovations. This approach can be applied to other sectors and time frames: discussion around these ideas is very welcome.