IMPACT

Some public services, like children’s services, are subject to considerable political sensitivity and undergo regular reforms, but little is known of the micro-processes supporting macro-level regulation and policy-making. This article provides insights into this micro-level of inter-organizational relations by investigating risk governance and negotiation employed by English children’s services professionals in their attempt to make sense of the uncertainty in which they operate. Public managers may extract lessons on the role of partnership working in risk identification, measurement and governance. They could also employ the authors’ risk typology (organizational risk, professional risk and risk to clients) to manage and absorb uncertainty beyond, as well as within, organizational boundaries.

ABSTRACT

Drawing on the conceptual distinction between risk and uncertainty, the authors examine the governance of shared risk in public sector partnerships in an area governed by uncertainty. Their case study of a local safeguarding children board (LSCB) reveals differences between risk and uncertainty and ways in which negotiations of LSCB partners’ different risk conceptualizations contributes to uncertainty reduction in children’s services. The article contributes to both to an understanding of risk and uncertainty management in the public sector and to that of public sector inter-organizational management accounting and control.

影响

一些公共服务，如儿童服务，具有相当大的政治敏感性并定期进行改革，但对支持宏观调控和政策制定的微观过程知之甚少。本文通过调查英国儿童服务专业人士在试图理解其运作的不确定性时所采用的风险治理和谈判，提供了对这种微观层面的组织间关系的见解。公共管理者可以从伙伴关系在风险识别、衡量和治理中的作用中汲取教训。他们还可以利用作者的风险类型（组织风险、专业风险和对客户的风险）来管理和吸收组织边界之外和内部的不确定性。

抽象的

作者利用风险和不确定性之间的概念区别，研究了在一个受不确定性支配的领域中公共部门伙伴关系中分担风险的治理。他们对当地儿童保护委员会 (LSCB) 的案例研究揭示了风险和不确定性之间的差异，以及 LSCB 合作伙伴的不同风险概念化谈判有助于减少儿童服务的不确定性的方式。本文有助于理解公共部门的风险和不确定性管理，以及公共部门的跨组织管理会计和控制。