Relationship Risk Research Articles

Hidden influences in international negotiations: The interactive role of insecure cultural attachment, risk perception, and risk regulation for sellers versus buyers

This research examines the previously unstudied role of cultural attachment in international negotiations. Specifically focusing on the fearful attachment style, this article reveals the intricate interaction of cultural attachment, risk perception, and risk regulation on negotiators' ability to claim value in international negotiation. Supporting our theorizing based on cultural attachment and prospect theory, findings show that risk‐averse sellers with fearful attachment to their national culture perceive greater risk and in turn are more motivated to regulate risk through relationship‐building with their counterpart (Study 1). Moreover, these individuals achieve lower economic gains when they regulate relational risk by making fewer threats to walk away (Study 2). We discuss the implications and the importance of understanding one's attachment to own national culture as its interplay with role and risk mechanisms impacts effectiveness in international negotiations.

E-commerce risk management in the logistics Industry: An Integrative Analytical Framework for Understanding Consumer Behavior

Early studies have paid particular attention to the control of alliances to cover the risks of differing objectives between firms in an exchange relationship (Nooteboom, Berger, & Noorderhaven, 1997). It has been suggested that the use of formal control mechanisms may enhance a trusting relationship by narrowing down the domain and severity of risk (Poppo & Zenger, 2002). Hence, for effective alliance performance, partner firms need to manage this risk adequately by understanding the conjoint roles of trust and control. This paper aim to develop a comprehensive and integrative framework of trust, control, and risk in the context of logistics industry. Trust and control are inextricably interlinked with risk in supply chain. Therefore, to understand how logistic firms can effectively reduce and manage this risk, we need to examine the inter-relationships between trust, control, and risk. This study aims to identify the e-commerce risk reduction approaches-minimizing relational risk through goodwill trust, behavior control, and social control, while minimizing performance risk through competence trust, output control, and social control.

A study of the operationalization of management controls in United Kingdom Private Finance Initiative contracts

Utilizing evidence from a United Kingdom (UK) road case study Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project, this article considers how the UK central government's infrastructure strategy is operationalized through accounting‐based performance measures and incentive systems, and articulates how the adoption of such systems is moderated by trust practices. The findings indicate that initial government policy objectives, translated as performance indicators in the case study, failed to offer adequate incentives for contractors and created tensions. However, controls were later developed through inter‐party trust practices for managing performance and relational risk. These findings have important implications for PFI policy and practice, including that negotiation can: (i) lead to pragmatic controls being introduced to foster cooperation and trust‐building; and (ii) provide opportunities for adapting the monitoring and incentive mechanisms. This study also contributes to the previous literature where PFI control systems were largely regarded as inadequate for dealing with unforeseen conflicts between parties.

Treating risk as relational on shore platforms and implications for public safety on microtidal rocky coasts

Drowning on rocky coasts is a problem with global significance, but it is a particularly acute issue in Australia where rocky coasts account for 19% of coastal drownings. The risk of drowning is often framed as a consequence of waves washing over shore platforms, which sweep unsuspecting victims into the sea. Although the physical processes of ‘wave overtopping’ are understood, few studies have investigated which elements of shore platform environments are perceived as being hazardous. Using coastal regions of Victoria, Australia, as the case, this study explores how Victoria’s lifesaving community perceives risk on shore platforms. These perceptions are then compared to quantitative risk ratings to analyse whether physical risk assessments designed by coastal risk experts align with lifesavers’ perceptions. Lifesavers are non-certified risk ‘experts’, whose safety training and exposure to hazardous situations inform their ‘experiential-expertise’, which is contrasted with the more common quantitative and science-based ‘expert’ risk assessments. The aim is to explore lifesavers perceptions of risk and to contrast two different ‘expert’ constructions of risk; one of which is experience based and the other a more traditional quantitative output of modelling. Exploration of this type of ‘expert’–expert hazard contrast is lacking with a management focus on lay perceptions. To understand how lifesavers perceive risk on shore platforms, the authors explore risk as relational. This conceptual approach takes an important first step towards thinking about risk as more than the simple combination of physical wave overtopping process and social perceptions. Instead, it seeks to understand the socio-environmental interactions that are perceived as hazardous. Data for this analysis were collected via an online questionnaire of Surf Life Saving Australia membership whose patrols are within 1 km of a shore platform in Victoria, Australia (n = 4683). By thinking about risk as relational, ‘slipping’ emerges as an under-explored hazard on shore platforms, despite being the main contributor to how lifesavers, themselves, unintentionally entered the sea. This study shows that the prevailing way of framing risk—perpetuated by the media and expert risk models—is often divorced from how risk is perceived by ‘experiential-experts’. This suggests coastal risk policy needs to integrate perceptions of the socio-environmental interactions that produce risk with the aim of accommodating the relational ways people perceive risk on shore platforms.

Collaborative risk management: a systematic literature review

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse collaborative risk management (CRM) literature to establish its current position in supply chain risk management (SCRM) and propose an agenda for future research.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review of 101 peer-reviewed articles over a 21-year period was employed to analyse literature and synthesise findings to clarify terminology, definitions, CRM capabilities, and underlying theory.FindingsCRM as a field of research is in its infancy and suffers from imprecise definitions, fragmented application of capabilities, and diverse theoretical foundations. The term CRM is identified as a more representative description of relational risk management arrangements. Six capabilities relevant to CRM are identified: risk information sharing, standardisation of procedures, joint decision making, risk and benefit sharing, process integration, and collaborative performance systems.Originality/valueThe paper provides a new definition for CRM; proposes a holistic approach in extending collaboration to SCRM; identifies a new capability; and provides a range of theories to broaden the theoretical scope for future research on CRM.

Females’ (Non)Disclosure of Minority Sexual Identities in the Workplace From a Communication Privacy Management Perspective

In this study, communication privacy management theory (CPM) provides a theoretical framework for investigating the development of privacy rules and strategies for females disclosing a minority sexual identity (MSI) in the workplace. Analysis of in-depth interviews indicated that participants’ rules were influenced primarily by role and relational risk evaluations. Findings nuance CPM’s conceptualization of role risk to identify 3 variations: risk to employment status, professional image, and ability to complete tasks. In addition, connections between workplace relational and role risks and how gender identities influence risk assessments and disclosure are demonstrated. Despite risk, participants disclosed personal information at work and often did so utilizing implicit disclosure strategies in everyday interactions to test confidants’ reactions and normalize their MSI in the workplace.

Attachment-Based Family Therapy with Suicidal Adolescents: An Overview

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in adolescents worldwide. Recent studies have identified familial and relational risk factors for suicide in adolescence. Unfortunately, few family-based treatments have been developed and tested for this challenging population. Attachment-based family therapy (ABFT) is a brief family-based treatment that has been shown to effectively reduce suicide ideation and attempts. Using five treatment tasks, ABFT focuses on reframing the problem to a systemic issue, developing understanding of the system and the depression, and creating corrective attachment experiences. Based on attachment theory, ABFT helps the adolescent and their parent(s) to develop a more secure relationship that will function as a buffer against suicide-related thoughts and behaviors in the future. [ Psychiatr Ann . 2017;47(8):412–415.]

Culture and context: The differential impact of culture, risks and resources on resilience among vulnerable adolescents

Using a socio-ecological measure of resilience, this paper examines changes in resilience profiles over time for a group of over 500 at-risk adolescents (12–17years). Increases in resilience over time are observed, suggesting a developmental component. However, absolute resilience levels are significantly lower than those of adolescents not at-risk. Family and neighborhood risks have the strongest negative impact on resilience. Ethnic minority status is strongly predictive of higher resilience. Being in an intimate relationship and being on-track with education contribute smaller, but nonetheless significant amounts to resilience, while anti-social peers undermine resilience. Findings highlight the importance of addressing contextual and relational risks, maintaining educational progress and working in culturally-responsive ways with at-risk adolescents.

Better the devil you know? A relational reading of risk and innovation in the rural water sector

This paper introduces an innovation – CBM‐lite – designed by a small Ugandan non‐governmental organisation (NGO) to remedy the shortfall of operation and maintenance (O&M) funds, identified as the key explanation behind the poor sustainability record of the community‐based management (CBM) model. Without a radical change in government and NGO policy concerning post‐construction support, the financing of hand pump O&M must come from communities themselves: hence the user pays principle is fundamental. CBM‐lite aims to reduce hand pump downtime by replacing the voluntary water user committees with an incentivised water operator bolstering the user pays principle, and through an insurance‐style micro‐finance product that ensures funds are available for expedient repairs. This innovation refines organisation and governance arrangements of CBM, but as the rules of operation and enforcement of sanctions are communally arranged, remains within the existing institutional framework of CBM. Drawing on original and extensive ethnographic fieldwork, surveys and interviews, we argue that a relational reading of risk applied to an innovation that deviates from mainstream CBM goes some way towards explaining the intransigence within the rural water sector. This novel application of relational risk theory advances the conceptual and empirical contribution of geography to the conundrum of realising sustainability in the rural water sector. The known risks associated with CBM – a third of hand pumps being non‐functional at any one time – may be seen as preferable to potential harm to ideology, to policy coherence, to organisational reputation, and to social and cultural norms. Finally, the study reconsiders current views about rural water management – notably the actual level of support for the user pays principle, key to both CBM and CBM‐lite. Unpacking sectoral inertia assumes greater significance with estimates that 57% of the global population will be reliant on communally managed water sources by 2020.

"HIV Changed My Life Forever": An Illustrative Case of a Sub-Saharan African Migrant Woman Living with HIV in Belgium.

Living with HIV and AIDS changes everything for people diagnosed with HIV and it can be the most difficult experience in life. Like most people who have chronic diseases, these individuals have to deal with living a normal and quality life. Globally, more women (51%) than men are HIV positive. The main aim of this paper was to describe a sub-Saharan African migrant woman’s lived experience, and also to use the individual’s story to raise questions about the larger context after a HIV diagnosis. A qualitative study consisting of a personal story of a HIV-infected sub-Saharan African living in Belgium was conducted. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The main themes that emerged from the data included relational risks, personal transformation and the search for normality, anxiety, depression, fear of stigma, societal gender norms, and support. The participant reported that marriage was no guarantee of staying HIV-free, especially in a male-dominant culture. This case further illustrates that married and unmarried African women are often at high risk of HIV and also informs us how HIV could spread, not only because of cultural practices but also because of individual behaviour and responses to everyday life situations. The participant also emphasized that she is faced with physical and mental health problems that are typical of people living with HIV. The vulnerability of sub-Saharan African women to HIV infection and their precarious health-related environments wherever they happen to be is further elucidated by this case.

Genealogy as critique in International Relations: Beyond the hermeneutics of baseless suspicion

This article engages genealogy as a form of critique in International Relations. It demonstrates that Foucault’s genealogy has had an important, albeit hitherto unexamined, impact on how critique is understood in post-structuralist International Relations. Specifically, the article argues that a genealogical disposition tends to inscribe violence as foundational to the human condition, and genealogically informed empirical applications in International Relations risk reproducing this gesture. In the first part, the article returns to the first generation of post-structuralist International Relations and also examines examples of contemporary scholarship using frameworks of governmentality and biopolitics. The second part of the article traces the problem of ontologically inscribing violence back to Foucault’s genealogical phase. Drawing on the work of John Milbank, the article then contrasts a genealogical ontology of violence with one that refuses violence as foundational. The article ends by arguing that empirical scholarship drawing on governmentality and biopolitics should be careful not to read the genealogical ontology of violence into their analyses of global political life.

Riesgos tecnológico y relacional y desarrollo de las empresas contratistas llave en mano. El caso de Astilleros Gondán en la construcción naval

Turnkey contractors face a double risk when executing their projects. On the one hand, the risk of failing to meet the requirements of cost, quality, and delivery time agreed with the client. On the other hand, a relational risk caused by the specific investments made by the contractor. Using the case of Astilleros Gondan, SA as empirical evidence, this paper analyzes the role played by project execution capabilities and relational capital in managing the aforementioned risks. Our analysis shows that the key factor when managing these companies is capitalizing on project execution capabilities and relational capital by trying to execute similar projects and/or working with trusted clients.

Social Tie Strength and Online Victimization: An Analysis of Young People Aged 15–30 Years in Four Nations

Online interaction through the use of social networking sites (SNS) continues to be a significant component of the socialization of young people today, yet little research exists toward linking various relational forms to prevalent and much-studied online risks cross-nationally. This article provides a link between relational dynamics and online risks identified in previous research toward a new perspective on how social tie strength is related to experiences of hate victimization and harassment online. The analysis is based on survey data of Finnish ( n = 555), American ( n = 1033), German ( n = 978), and British ( n = 999) young people aged 15–30 years. Variables, including age, gender, main activity, SNS use, quantity, and extent of online and offline social networks including social tie strength and online community identification, were analyzed toward finding their associations with online hate victimization and harassment. Results showed that experiences of hate victimization and harassment were similar cross-nationally and that those who were personally harassed online also reported high SNS activity. Furthermore, no association was found between social network size and negative experiences. Notable cross-national differences were also detected in the results. Findings emphasize the importance of understanding variables fostering online risks for young people while providing a new perspective on what aspects of social life may help negate negative effects online.

How mediated power affects opportunism in owner–contractor relationships: The role of risk perceptions

Contractor opportunism is an obstacle to close collaboration in owner–contractor relationships for construction projects. But little is known about what causes it. This study examines how the mediated power of an owner influences contractor opportunism from the risk perception perspective. Using data from 156 responses to an opinion questionnaire survey, the moderating effect of solidarity on the relationship between mediated power and risk perceptions in the owner–contractor relationship is explored. The data were analyzed with Partial-Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that the relational risk perceptions and the performance risk perceptions of contractors have a positive influence on their tendency to become opportunist; while the mediated power of the owner can increase the contractor's negative perceptions of relational risks but not performance risks. High solidarity helps to weaken the positive influence of mediated power on the contractor's relational risk perceptions. These findings confirm that risk perception is an important perspective to understand why contractors behave opportunistically. In addressing this situation, owners should put themselves in the contractor's shoes to perceive what kinds of risks the contractor would face, and consider the potential impact of their own behavior to the contractor.

An Investigation of Relational Risk and Promotive Factors Associated with Adolescent Female Aggression.

Despite growing trends in adolescent female aggression, much adolescent aggression research has focused on males to the exclusion of their female counterparts. Using relational-cultural and social role theories, the current study identifies the risk and promotive factors associated with adolescent female aggression. Using data from the Rural Adaptation Project (a 5year longitudinal panel study of youth from two rural, ethnically diverse, low income counties in North Carolina), a 2-level hierarchical linear model was estimated (N = 3580). Internalizing symptoms, association with delinquent friends, peer pressure, and parent-child conflict emerged as risk factors whereas teacher support was a significant promotive factor. Results suggest that interventions should focus on negative relationships in both the parent and peer domains and underscore the need for mental health services for aggressive girls.

Risks, Challenges and Value for Money of Public–Private Partnerships

AbstractThis study examines the unique issues, challenges and risks emerging at the end of a public‐private partnership (PPP) concession. The M4 motorway is the first Australian PPP that has reached the end of its concession. The absence of formal guidance on contractual closure created challenges for the partners in interpreting contract ambiguities, and in reaching agreement on the processes needed to close the contract. These challenges had posed several relational risks, the mitigations of which were supported by the relational contract partners developed over the concession term, and their reciprocity and ethical motivations. The reintegration risk emerged in the handback exemplifies the limits of controls designed for legitimacy concerns to resolve coordination problems. The political settlement for value for money was gestured by lifting the toll after the concession ended. In providing unparalleled empirical evidence against the long‐term ‘myths’ of PPPs, the study counters the criticism over PPPs’ impossibilities to handle uncertainties and to transfer risk.

Relational contracting and the myth of trust: Control in a co-opetitive setting

In this paper, we investigate the role of formal and relational contracts in managing alliance risks that arise in co-opetitive collaborations. We undertake a case study of a co-opetitive sales alliance within the independent publishing sector, incorporating data from all firms to the alliance. We provide empirical evidence of the relational risks of misappropriation and opportunism as manifest in both vertical (buyer-supplier) and horizontal activities within the alliance and identify a further relational risk relating to concerns of introducing homogeneity into the product offerings of firms. We also examine the nature of compliance and regulatory risk, which is salient in this setting given the potential for anti-competitive behaviour towards customers and suppliers. We find that the firms mitigate alliance risks primarily through the use of relational contracts (informal self-enforcing agreements). Formal contracts are evident in the buyer-supplier relationship, but are used mainly for ex post co-ordination. We adopt an organisational economics perspective to explain the specific mechanisms that support relational contracting between the firms. We find that shared values, implicit understandings, restricted membership, meetings, and collective sanctions encourage the firms to demonstrate commitment to the alliance, to diffuse information about partners’ behaviours, and, crucially, to monitor partners. Informal agreements between partners are sustained by self-regulating behaviours, reinforced by the ‘shadow of the future’ in that firms have a great deal to gain from continued participation in the alliance and face losses if excluded. Notably, our findings support economic arguments that trust is a weak proxy for observable control mechanisms. Our study contributes to knowledge of the management of inter-firm risks in two significant ways. First, we draw on our empirical findings to develop an organising framework that presents a means of systematically investigating the mechanisms and factors that support the use of relational contracts. Second, by employing an economics approach to the management of alliance risks, we are able to present a richer and potentially more compelling view of inter-firm control than is traditionally presented in studies that rely on intra-firm notions of social controls, in particular trust.

Family-based risk factors for non-suicidal self-injury: Considering influences of maltreatment, adverse family-life experiences, and parent–child relational risk

The current investigation addressed the potential for unique influences of perceived childhood maltreatment, adverse family-life events, and parent-child relational trauma on the lifetime occurrence and addictive features of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Participants included 957 undergraduate students (747 females; M = 20.14 years, SD = 3.88) who completed online questionnaires regarding the key variables under study. Although self-injuring youth reported more experiences with each family-based risk factor, different patterns of association were found when lifetime engagement in NSSI or its addictive features were under study. Perceived parent-child relational trauma was uniquely linked with NSSI behavior after accounting for perceived childhood maltreatment; adverse family-life events had an additional unique association. In contrast, perceived paternal maltreatment was uniquely related with NSSI's addictive features. Findings underline the importance of studying inter-related family-based risk factors of NSSI simultaneously for a comprehensive understanding of familial correlates of NSSI behavior and its underlying features.

Identifying Trajectories of Borderline Personality Features in Adolescence: Antecedent and Interactive Risk Factors.

To examine trajectories of adolescent borderline personality (BP) features in a normative-risk cohort (n = 566) of Canadian children assessed at ages 13, 14, 15, and 16 and childhood predictors of trajectory group membership assessed at ages 8, 10, 11, and 12. Data were drawn from the McMaster Teen Study, an on-going study examining relations among bullying, mental health, and academic achievement. Participants and their parents completed a battery of mental health and peer relations questionnaires at each wave of the study. Academic competence was assessed at age 8 (Grade 3). Latent class growth analysis, analysis of variance, and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Three distinct BP features trajectory groups were identified: elevated or rising, intermediate or stable, and low or stable. Parent- and child-reported mental health symptoms, peer relations risk factors, and intra-individual risk factors were significant predictors of elevated or rising and intermediate or stable trajectory groups. Child-reported attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and somatization symptoms uniquely predicted elevated or rising trajectory group membership, whereas parent-reported anxiety and child-reported ADHD symptoms uniquely predicted intermediate or stable trajectory group membership. Child-reported somatization symptoms was the only predictor to differentiate the intermediate or stable and elevated or rising trajectory groups (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.28). Associations between child-reported reactive temperament and elevated BP features trajectory group membership were 10.23 times higher among children who were bullied, supporting a diathesis-stress pathway in the development of BP features for these youth. Findings demonstrate the heterogeneous course of BP features in early adolescence and shed light on the potential prodromal course of later borderline personality disorder.

Influence of institutional and moral orientations on relational risk management in supply chains

Inter-organizational relationships in supply chains are built, maintained, and enhanced to achieve corporate goals. However, relational risk will weaken the success of supply chains. Manufacturers must build forms of relational governance to safeguard against the relational risk of partners. For managing relational risk, this research investigates the contribution of institutional and moral orientations to relational risk management. The results of the study of 260 major manufacturing firms in Taiwan suggest that three types of relational risk—opportunistic behavior, loss of competences, and incomprehension—are significantly affected by institutional and/or moral orientations. The findings provide useful insights into how supply chain members should reinforce their institutional and moral views of relational governance and manage relational risks faced by the supply chain as a whole.