Narratives of Project Risk Management: From Scientific Rationality to the Discursive Nature of Identity Work

Abstract

The dominant narrative of project risk management pays homage to scientific rationality while conceptualizing risk as objective fact. Yet doubts remain regarding the extent to which the advocated quantitative techniques are used in practice. An established counternarrative advocates the importance of intuition and subjective judgment. New insights are developed by conceptualizing risk as a narrative construct used for the purposes of identity work. Project-based practitioners are seen to mobilize resources from competing narratives to meet the transient expectations of those with whom they interact. Ultimately, they tend to emphasize approaches that sustain their ascribed identities as custodians of rationality.