TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED SCRIPT FOR RISK AND VALUE MANAGEMENT: INSIGHTS FROM THE DRAMATURGICAL METAPHOR

S. D. GREEN

Department of Construction Management & Engineering, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 219, Reading, RG6 2AW, UK.

Abstract

It is contended that the current conceptual distinction between risk management and value management is unsustainable. The origins of the two traditions are reviewed and critiqued from a postmodernist perspective. It is concluded that they differ primarily in terms of their rhetoric, rather than their substantive content. Insights into the current practice of risk and value management are provided by considering their enactment in terms of 'performance'. The scripts for such performances are seen to be provided by the accepted methodologies which determine the language to be used and the roles to be acted out. A coherent integrated script for risk and value management can be provided by the methodology known as strategic choice, which replaces the language of 'risk' and 'value' with that of 'uncertainty'.

Keywords: risk management, value management, postmodernism, dramaturgical metaphor, rhetoric, strategic choice.